MediaWiki is an extremely powerful PHP-based wiki system developed for the purpose of handling large volumes of incoming content in the form of wikitext files. Originally designed for Wikipedia, this very open-source software uses wikitext format instead of the complicated HTML or JavaScript coding used in most wikis. This has resulted in MediaWiki becoming an indispensable tool for all sorts of online content management systems including Blogs and ezines. Although there are other wikis available, MediaWiki remains to be one of the most powerful, user-friendly, and flexible tools to date.
When it comes to downloading MediaWiki, you will find that it's available for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems as well as many other platforms. Although the latest beta version of MediaWiki for Windows XP is no longer supported, the software is still relatively easy to install and maintain. There is also an application called "Wikipedia Live" which allows Wikipedia users to browse through the application and select which wikis they want to synchronize with their computers.
When downloading MediaWiki, always ensure that the correct version of the application is being downloaded. Not all Windows-based platforms have the same version of MediaWiki available. Many older versions are not compatible with the various versions of Windows that are on the market today. It's also a good idea to check the Windows application compatibility list before making the decision to download MediaWiki to ensure that your computer will run MediaWiki.