MySQL for Windows vs. XAMPP with MySQL

[Danny Weiss]

My issue here is essentially which version of MySQL to use on a personal machine for learning purposes, and can a version installed for web purposes be used for other purposes. Since I already have MySQL as it was installed with the XAMPP web package (Apache, PHP, MySQL, etc), I am wondering if I can use that installation for other purposes and with other applications, or if I have to install the standalone Windows version of MySQL.

As I approach learning MySQL, every book I look at starts off by telling me to install MySQL and some of its utilities, such as MySQL Workbench on my Windows PC. What I am trying to figure out is whether I can just use the version of XAMPP already installed with XAMPP and still make use of the utilities such as Workbench and various others? If so, do I need to configure the utilities in any special way to have them communicate with the MySQL / XAMPP installation?

Or, should I just install the regular Windows version of MySQL and if I do that will it interfere in any way with my XAMPP installation?

Thanks,

-Danny