Question: i want to develop rails 3 apps using mysql on windows 7 (64 bit) and i have installed mysql via the msi download from the mysql site.

my question is that do i still need to install the mysql gem?

thanks

Answer: 
Here is a proper solution for anyone interested, that doesn't mess up your current installation of mysql server

1. Download a zip file with mysql server 5.1 NOT the msi one. Make sure it's 32-bit NOT 64-bit. ([From here](http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.1.html))
2. Since there is no installer file with this, create a folder c:\mysql-gem-install - you can remove it once you finish.
3. Extract all the files from the zip file into the folder you just created.
4. now run this command

gem install mysql2 -- '--with-mysql-lib="c:\mysql-gem-install\lib\opt" --with-mysql-include="c:\mysql-gem-install\include"'

I just installed mysql2 gem v. 0.3.7
Yes you do. The mysql gem is a ruby driver (interface) to connect to the mysql database.

You should use [mysql2](http://rubygems.org/gems/mysql2) gem instead with Rails3.