Many people know from their own experience that it's not easy to install an Apache web server and it gets harder if you want to add MySQL, PHP and Perl.

XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. XAMPP is really very easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start.

In search of the One True Layout

Pure CSS-based layouts have come a long way but they still have shortcomings that fail to address certain design goals without compromising the true separation of content and presentation.

In short, the problematic design goals are these:
Total Layout Flexibility

That is, the ability to order columns logically in the source while displaying them in any order desired. For any number of columns.
Equal Height Columns

Or more accurately, equal height columns without having to rely on faux columns.
Vertical placement of elements across grids/columns