Heya,
Php is lovely and easy and the documentation is incredible. If you are going for web-programming php is where it's at. Almost anything can be accomplished with PHP+jQuery.
For desktop software I've recently started with c# using Microsoft Visual C 2010, and the language is not as easy and simplified as PHP, it's annoying, but the software I'm using that I just mentioned really helps with building visual layouts and the ability to use an interface to create an interface makes up for the tougher coding experience.