The most common point of confusion stems from the versioning of the (the GUI application v3.2.3) versus the XAMPP core stack (e.g., v7.4, v8.0, v8.1). Apache Friends, the maintainers of XAMPP, version their releases based on the PHP version included (e.g., xampp-windows-x64-8.2.12-0-VS16-installer.exe ), not the control panel version.
Download xampp-windows-x64-7.4.27-0-VS16-installer.exe . It offers PHP 7.4 (still widely used) and includes the exact control panel UI you are searching for. Step 3: Identify the Installer Download the .exe installer for Windows or the .run file for Linux. Avoid the .zip or .7z versions unless you know how to manually configure Windows services. xampp v3.2.3 download
Provided on SourceForge verify page.
| Feature | Location in v3.2.3 | | :--- | :--- | | Start/Stop buttons | Right side of each module | | Config button | Bottom right (Apache/MySQL/Nginx) | | Shell button | Right side, next to Explorer | | Netstat button | Top right corner | | Windows Service registration | Checkbox on left of each module | The most common point of confusion stems from
| Core Version | PHP Version | Control Panel Version | Release Date | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | 8.0.0 | 3.2.3 | Nov 2020 | | xampp-windows-7.4.25 | 7.4.25 | 3.2.3 | Nov 2021 | | xampp-windows-7.4.27 | 7.4.27 | 3.2.3 | Jan 2022 | It offers PHP 7
| Alternative | Control Panel UI | PHP Version | Best For | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Modern (Auto-virtual hosts) | 7.4 - 8.2 | Lightweight & fast | | WampServer | Green/Orange tray icon (Classic) | 7.4.33 | Similar retro feel | | Docker Desktop | CLI-based | Any (custom) | Isolated environments |
# Set MySQL root password (using v3.2.3's MySQL) mysqladmin -u root password 'YourNewStrongPass123!' cd C:\xampp\phpmyadmin Edit config.inc.php - change 'config' to 'cookie' for auth_type