Here are all differences between Google AppEngine PHP environment and my local GAE SDK on Windows 7. Both versions are 1.8.8

Google AppEngine and SDK differences

Here are all differences between Google AppEngine PHP environment and my local GAE SDK on Windows 7.
Both versions are 1.8.8

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# $_SERVER["SERVER_SOFTWARE"]

GAE: Google App Engine/1.8.8
SDK: Development/2.0

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# phpinfo()

Server API:
GAE: Google AppEngine PHP Runtime SAPI
SDK: CGI/FastCGI

Registered Stream Socket Transports:
GAE: tcp, ssl
SDK: tcp, udp, ssl, sslv3, sslv2, tls

apc: MMAP Support
GAE: Enabled
SDK: Disabled
NOTE: This is Unix Posix only

apc: Locking type
GAE: pthread mutex Locks
SDK: File Locks
NOTE: pthread is Unix Posix only

apc: apc.file_update_protection
GAE: 0
SDK: 2

apc: apc.write_lock
GAE: Off
SDK: On

Core: disable_functions
GAE: diskfreespace, disk_free_space, disk_total_space, escapeshellarg, escapeshellcmd, exec, highlight_file, link, passthru, popen, proc_close, proc_get_status, proc_nice, proc_open, proc_terminate, set_time_limit, shell_exec, show_source, symlink, system, tempnam
SDK:
NOTE: No disabled functions by default on SDK

Core: display_errors
GAE: Off
SDK: On

Core: enable_dl
GAE: Off
SDK: On

Core: error_log
GAE: syslog
SDK:
NOTE: No needed on SDK since display_errors is ON

CORE: error_reporting
GAE: 32767 (E_ALL)
SDK: 22519 (E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_STRICT & ~E_DEPRECATED)

Core: expose_php
GAE: Off
SDK: On

Core: extension_dir
GAE: /base/data/home/runtimes/php/lib
SDK: C:\php

Core: file_uploads
GAE: Off
SDK: On

Core: include_path
GAE: .;/base/data/home/apps/s~woodzu123/2.372466710008333997/;/base/data/home/runtimes/php/sdk
SDK: F:\SVN\joomla-gae;C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\google_appengine\php\sdk

Core: log_errors
GAE: On
SDK: Off

Core: max_execution_time
GAE: 0
SDK: 30

Core: max_file_uploads
GAE: 0
SDK: 30

Core: memory_limit
GAE: 2G
SDK: 128MB

Core: open_basedir
GAE: /base/data/home/apps/s~woodzu123/2.372466710008333997/;/base/data/home/runtimes/php/sdk;/php_runtime/versions;/etc
SDK:
Note: Not set on windows SDK

Core: realpath_cache_size
GAE: 1024K
SDK: 16K

Core: realpath_cache_ttl
GAE: 86400
SDK: 120

Core: upload_max_filesize
GAE: 0
SDK: 2M

Date: date.timezone
GAE: UTC
SDK:
Note: Not set on windows SDK


GAE Runtime Module: google_app_engine.allow_include_gs_buckets
NOTE: This module isn't available on Windows SDK

GD: FreeType Version
GAE: 2.4.4
SDK: 2.4.10

GD: libJPEG Version
GAE: 6b
SDK: 8

GD: libPNG Version
GAE: 1.2.49
SDK: 1.2.50

iconv: iconv library version
GAE: 2.9
SDK: 1.14

libxml: libXML Compiled Version
GAE: 2.7.7
SDK: 2.7.8

mysql: mysql.allow_local_infile
GAE: Off
SDK: On

mysqli: mysqli.allow_local_infile
GAE: Off
SDK: On

mysqlnd: Collecting statistics
GAE: No
SDK: Yes

openssl: OpenSSL Library Version
GAE: OpenSSL 1.0.1c 10 May 2012
SDK: OpenSSL 0.9.8y 5 Feb 2013

pdo_mysql: pdo_mysql.default_socket
GAE: /tmp/mysql.sock
SDK:
NOTE: This isn't set on Windows SDK

Session: session.entropy_file
GAE: /dev/urandom
SDK:
Note: Not set/available on Windows SDK

Session: session.entropy_length
GAE: 256
SDK: 0

soap: soap.wsdl_cache
GAE: 2
SDK: 1

zlib: Compiled Version
GAE: 1.2.8
SDK: 1.2.7

Additional Modules
GAE: google_cloud_sql_mysqlnd_plugin, memcache, memcached, urlfetch_stream_wrapper_plugin
SDK: ''
Note: None of these are available on Windows SDK

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# Notes on Environment:

GAE has only 4 environment variables where Windows SDK has much, much more including:
REDIRECT_STATUS=1
SERVER_SOFTWARE=Development/2.0
USER_IS_ADMIN=0
APPENGINE_RUNTIME=php
REMOTE_ADDR=::1
INSTANCE_ID= looks like an MD5 hash
APPLICATION_ID= Application ID from app.yaml
... and much more