xampp, Wampserver, installations, oh my.

I am setting up a new development environment on a Windows 7 machine and I am wondering about the merits of the different WAMP packages. In the past I have installed and configured the various components separately (Apache, PHP, MySql). I am currently looking into a bundled installation.

Questions:
Are there any great strengths, weaknesses, or standards for the various packages? Which is preferred and why?

I found this list:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_WAMPs
But it does not speak to quality or ease of use.

What about upgrades and configurations?
If I need to upgrade one of the components down the road how easy is it? Can I set configurations for each component the same way as if I installed them separately?

Any traps or pitfalls I should be aware of before installing a WAMP package?

Thanks

If you've done each of the pieces before yourself I'd certainly recommend going that route again. It always helps to know and understand the pieces and how they fit/work together.

If you've done each of the pieces before yourself I'd certainly recommend going that route again. It always helps to know and understand the pieces and how they fit/work together.

Yeah, I have understood the pieces since the 90's. Looking for convenience and shortcuts now. I am trying to avoid spending the time needed to download/install/configure each of them.

So why do you recommend against the packaged setup? What is it about the bundle that makes them inferior to the piecemeal approach?

As I said, doing them individually helps you understand each of them and how they fit together. When something doesn't go quite right you'll be better prepared to figure out what is wrong and correct it.

I wouldn't call the bundles inferior but they tend to "lock you in" to the versions of the pieces they bundle for you. Doing each one separately you are able to have, for example, multiple versions of Apache, PHP and even MySQL to be able to test different things easily.