I too am just starting out with XAMP and I have just installed Version 5.6.40. I appreciate there are newer versions with newer PHP but my production server uses PHP 5.6.39 so this was the nearest I could get. Am I right to do this, or should I have gone for the latest XAMP anyway?
The installation went very smoothly but I was a bit surprised to find that /htdocs already contained so files and folders, and this seems to be the way to get to the dashboard (via index.php). If I delete all those files and folders so that I can put my own files in /htdocs, will I lose the dashboard and anything else? Or should I use a different folder for my own files?
As the OP said, most of you guys on here seem to be so far ahead of us beginners that you forget to provide guidance on the elementary stuff. Please don't be offended by this comment but it is a bit off-putting when the package doesn't come with a simple Getting Started guide.
I will shortly have to start on the MySQL bit. I hope that goes smoothly.