I've been making basic html web pages for a while now and want to
move on to learning PHP. I started doing this by looking at a tutorial
on the net. It said i need to download some server software, it suggests the apache web server, which sounds good to me.. except i can't seem to be able to download and install it. Can someone point me in the direction of where to find the latest version of this software? And any other tips? I'm on a MS machine but that shouldn't be a problem should it?

All help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

What distribution do you intend to install apache and php? Most distributions have these packages in their software repositories, so you can install them using your distributions package manager.

as i said before i'm on a MS (microsoft) machine

Go to apachefriends.org and gett xampp for windows. Simple to set up and use.

Well, the forum you posted in is Linux - Server which is meant for Linux questions and not MS Windows questions. Those belong in the General Forum which is where this thread will be moved.

This article may help you setup Apache and PHP on Windows.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

If you are wanting to learn PHP and you are on Windows then go to http://www.wampserver.com/en/ and install that. Very easy to install and get started with learning PHP on your own computer.