I did some looking around on the ubuntu website, but I didnt see any of these details:

-What version of Apache, PHP, MySQL does it ship with
-->What extensions are PHP compiled with?

-Is LDAP available (by default) or will I have to install openLDAP

I think that should do it

EDIT:
also, is this the iso I want to install the server version:

ubuntu-6.10-server-i386.iso

the desktop and server download links both goto the same place... so I just wanna be sure i'm getting the right CD

its going to be installed on a "tower PC" not an actual "server pc"... please advise

To see the actual packages, look in http://packages.ubuntu.com/ since all flavors use the same package base.
Any computer will do as long as it's compatible and reliable.

so i take it that upon installation ill be asked if i want to create a server/desktop/etc type of box

Nope, the server cd is different. You can choose to install a LAMP server but you'll end up with a console when it's installed. After that, you can choose to install a full desktop should you wish by using the metapackages like ubuntu-desktop, kubuntu-desktop or xubuntu-desktop.

awesome... is there any form of ACPI with ubuntu? e.g. anyway via the CLI i can determine how much battery would be left on my laptop?

Yep, you can go to /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0 and do a cat on the files there to get back runtime information. For example, on my laptop, cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/info and cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state reveal useful information, much more than windows actually.
Also, I bet there's some nice CLI utility for stuff like that. Haven't searched though hehe

strangely I have nothing battery related... i do have a power_resource folder but it contains nothing... strange

Do a google with your laptop model and acpi on google for more info. Probably someone has posted something specifically for it
Also, if you add a battery applet to your panel, can you see your battery charge?