Joomla Install Hanging Up

Trying to install a hotstart template on a xampp platform

Xampp Version  3.3.0

First screen of Joomla installation works fine.  After filling out form for the second screen (Database) and clicking NEXT, nothing happens.  The screen flashes momentarily, but stays the same.  No error messages are displayed.  I have tried two different templates with the same results.

Using the same layout I am able to install a standard Joomla setup without a problem.
 

Hello,

What PHP version you are using? Please make sure it's 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, or 7.4.

Regards,
Milos

I was using the latest version of xampp that uses PHP v8.

I switched to an earlier version of xampp with PHP v7.x and the site is now working. Thanks.