WP as standalone on desktop?

http://www.tamba2.org.uk/wordpress/xampp/

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

If you own a mac. This process is very easy.

First go to Marc Liyanage page for information on how to get php and mysql up and running http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/welcome.html

Then download phpMyAdmin ( http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php ) so that you can manage your database.

Using phpMyAdmin, create the name of your database. Then install WordPress in your “Sites” folder and follow the directions. Your WP app will live at http://localhost/~yourusername

Better yet! Go to Patrick Gibson’s ( http://patrickgibson.com/news/andsuch/000091.php ) site and download his script for virtual hosting. Then you can have your vhost point to http://mywpdev/ or something like that.

The OSX was set up just for this type of thing, so flex your muscles and learn the system.