After what seems like an eternity figuring out IIS7 on Server 2008, along comes Microsoft’s Web Platform Installer (Web PI) which makes installing and configuring PHP, MySQL and WordPress a snap! I discovered this easy 5 Minute Install on Windows section while I was reviewing the codex for 3.0 installation info. No more headaches trying to configure each entity separately in IIS…Web PI does it for you.

As a follow up, it’s always important to make sure that the appropriate internet account is set up for the Default Application Pool (DefaultAppPool). Make sure IUSR_servername is correctly added to the IIS_IUSRS group, then assign it to the Identity of DefaultAppPool.

One more important feature to enhance your interface with MySQL is the installation of phpMyAdmin, which makes managing MySQL and WordPress tremendously easy. The linked walkthrough also includes instruction on how to modify your PHP install to add some much needed extensions for phpMyAdmin (and some WordPress plugins you may find useful).