I have been using XAMPP for many years in many different versions. I continue to be grateful for the work of everyone who puts these very helpful packages together.
I have a suggestion to make the Download page (https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html) clearer for macOS users. In the "XAMPP for OS X" section, there are six entries, named "7.4.29, 8.0.19, 8.1.6, 7.4.29, 8.0.19 & 8.1.6". There is no explanation of why each number occurs twice. On the surface, each of the two entries (for each version) look identical. Only a slight difference in the URL attached to the "Download (64 bit)" button reveals the important news: "…-installer.dmg" vs "…-vm.dmg".
This was very confusing for me, coming to the XAMPP website for the first time in several years. What would have helped me would be:
- Extend the item title, so that it says "Virtual Machine 7.4.29 / PHP 7.4.29" or "macOS Installer 7.4.29 / PHP 7.4.29" instead of just "7.4.29 / PHP 7.4.29".
- Add text just below the section title saying something like, "XAMPP for macOS can be installed onto directly into macOS, or installed as a virtual machine. See XAMPP-VM FAQ "What is the difference between XAMPP for OS X and XAMPP-VM?" (https://www.apachefriends.org/faq_stackman.html) for more information.
- Add a mention of the VM in the "What's included?" text for the VM entries. (Currently they have identical text to the macOS installer entries.)
The rest of the story is told at the two links "OS X FAQs" (https://www.apachefriends.org/faq_osx.html) and "OS X XAMPP-VM FAQs" (https://www.apachefriends.org/faq_stackman.html). But it took me a while to find my way there. I was busy looking at buttons which said "Download".
I hope this suggestion is helpful. Thank you again for your work to produce this very convenient distribution.