mysql community server vs mysql installer

Question

I recently thought of upgrading mysql in my system for a project when I found two parallelly available downloads for windows in mysql site. I cannot figure out the difference between mysql community and mysql installer.

MySQL community is available for both 32 and 64 bit windows (both above 300 MBs) while mysql installer is 267 MB for 32 bit while just 1.6 MB for 64 bit (which looks like web installer).

So what extras are there in community server (its size is bigger) as compared to installer and if I go for windows installer, shall I go for 32 or 64 bit. I need offline installer though.

My system specs:

Windows 8.1 x64 Professional
8GB RAM

Link for mysql installer: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/windows/installer/

Link for mysql community server: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

PS: I did try a google search but cant find any good articles. I only found difference between community server and cluster.

Moreover, half of my batch mates were running community server while half of them mysql installer. Couldn't find much of the difference.

Answer 1

Both will install into same final setup. the web-community is online installer, you need to download to connect to the online server and installations files come from online while the community installer is an offline installer with full features. web-installer (online, need internet connection to complete the installation), community-installer(offline, full).