Windows versus Linux Hosting: Which is Better?
Is Window or Linux better?
There really is no definitive answer to that question. Each has its own strengths as well as weaknesses and advantages and disadvantages.
Many times it has been stated that Linux in general is much more stable and secure. There actually are several flavors rather than one type of Linux. Those who use Linux tend to be fanatics in terms of supporting their operating system. Their power of conviction might be impressive, however that should not be the the sole reason for believing they are right. It is true that Linux users do tend to be more knowledgeable about computers than the average individual, so there is more of a chance that they do know what they are talking about.
Windows, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to have as many devoted or vocal fans. This could be because Microsoft has had several suits affecting their image as well as the image of their products.
Many people when they are just beginning to look into hosting make the assumption that because the computer they are using for creating web pages runs on Windows that they will need to use Windows hosting. However, that isn’t true. To create webs pages either Windows or Linux hosting can be used without any problems.
There are also some over generalizations and confusion over that fact that Windows is very insecure, unstable and buggy. However, there are several different kind of Windows, and these different versions aren’t all the same thing.
Windows 95 and 98 both had problems with the dreaded blue screen. The screen in and of itself wasn’t so bad, but you could just never seem to be able to get out. About the only thing that could be done was to reset your computer.
The blue screen occurred frequently on these operating systems and seemed to just appear “out of the blue.” It’s these types of problems that help to give Windows products their bad name.
A big step forward was Windows XP in terms of stability. The main reason apparently was because it was Windows 2000 based, which is actually an operating system that was deigned for servers. The stability on versions of Windows designed to be used with servers is a lot better than Windows 95, 98 and ME, which were designed for the desktop computer. Windows 2000 and 2003 were not your average operating systems for desktops, but were in a very different league altogether.
One thing often noted when comparing Linux and Windows is the fact that Linux can handle higher numbers of different processes running simultaneously than Windows can. The stability of Windows decreases a lot faster when running more processes on a machine.
Overall, Linux may have the ability of getting more from the server, however if there is a knowledgeable system administrator they will be able to get the server to perform whether the operating system being used is Linux or Windows.
Linux is a free operating system whereas as Windows costs money.
Linux is open source software. The reason it is able to thrive is due to the fact that many programmers volunteer their time. The quality and amount of work they put in is very commendable.
Windows is also a product that has been created from the hard work of multiple programmers. The difference is they are hired and paid to do the job. Their employer is Microsoft and the goal of the business is to make a profit. In terms of small business it is not such a bad thing, but when it comes to large corporations sometimes it can be associated with a monopoly.
So which operating system should you be looking at?
The decision for choosing Linux or Windows hosting should really be based on your company’s needs rather than myths you may have heard. Your decision should be based on the knowledge your business staff has and the plans you have for your website.
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is used to make static web pages. You can host pure HTML pages on any kind of web server and with any type of operating system.
Web pages that are interactive and dynamic, on the other hand, require more powerful programming languages. Dynamic doesn’t mean animated as in animated objects or gifs appearing on web pages. Dynamic pages are things like a forum or shopping cart when you send the server information and the server stores it and then does things to the information.
Languages used for these type of functions include PHP, Perl, Python, ASP, and Java. ASP and PHP are quite popular. ASP is a product from Microsoft. PHP is free, open source.
The PHP developers made sure that PHP can be used on machines that are Windows based. However, Microsoft didn’t make the same efforts to make ASP usable on machines other than those that are Windows based.
There are individuals and companies working on being able to port ASP onto other operating systems. However so far there are only partial solutions. Full use of the capabilities and functions of ASP on other type of operating systems other than Windows isn’t available yet.
A cross-platform attempt for ASP is Active Server Pages from Java System. Apache-asp.org is another attempt. For Linux the web server that is preferred is Apache, so Apache-ASP does make sense.
Currently only ASP.NET and ASP are fully usable with Windows. For now if you are planning on using ASP, the safer choice would be to use Windows hosting.
The development of PHP occurred through the community of open source which is based largely around Linux. Linux, PHP, MySQL and Apache all work together very well.
PHP also works well with the Windows-IIS platform. There are a few script change that may need to be done, but PHP scripts will work on Windows machines.
PHP has become quite popular very quickly. It is known for being powerful, fast and free. Many scripts have been written using PHP and there is a lot of information available on PHP subjects, which helps to explain why PHP is becoming more and more popular.
A Windows hosting platform does have one very big advantage at least, which is the full use of ASP.NET and ASP. If you are planning to use ASP due to the fact that it works better with your applications or because your employees are knowledgeable with ASP, then your best option for hosting right now is Windows hosting.
Fortunately PHP works well on Windows as well as Linux. You can use PHP without a lot of worries as long as the sever with your hosting account has PHP on it.
Although Linux isn’t currently able to make full use of ASP, it’s still quite a great operating system choice for web servers. Linux is well known for being stable. While the instability of Windows may in some ways be anecdotal, it is something that comes up on a regular basis. The stability of Linux goes almost unquestioned.
Despite the fact that Linux is free, there are some questions regarding the total costs for a web server operating system. There are some studies that indicate that Windows might actually be less expensive to use under certain conditions than Linux. However, it may not surprise you to hear that Microsoft sponsored many of these studies. There are other studies that give the opposite conclusion. To learn more about this issue you can do a search for “Linux windows cost of ownership.”
While the top players are running their sophisticated extrapolations and running their numbers, out in the real world Linux hosting, for several reasons, is usually less expensive than Windows hosting is. A dedicated server that is running Linux usually costs less than one that is running Windows. In terms of shared hosting, more data transfer and web space can be obtained at the same cost when choosing Linux.
Most hosting services do offer plans that are Linux based. It might be easier to find good Linux hosting plans. There are still a lot of hosts that offer Windows hosting, just not as many as those offering Linux.
Because Linus is so well known for being stable, secure and reliable, and of course less expensive, it can be considered to be the default option. However with the Linux platform there are some things currently unavailable. In these situations Windows may be a better choice.
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