InstantRails is a simple to use LAMP-like package that you can download to get Rails running on Windows in an instant. It includes a MySQL database, Ruby, Rails, Apache web server, and even some Ruby on Rails applications for you to modify including a version of Typo. InstantRails has both FastCGI and Webbrick, so you can develop with either. I find InstantRails is great for portability, such as on a USB flash drive, but isn't the greatest if you really want to do some decent programming with either Ruby or with Rails. Still the best idea is to install Ruby and MySQL from scratch. It isn't that difficult and it makes everything easier in the long run. InstantRails is also good for newbies to start on, but I find the file structure a little confusing (not that Rails doesn't already add to that).
Tags: instantrails, LAMP, opensource, php, rails, ruby, rubyonrails, server
