Linux vs Windows Hosting?

[Maria G]

Hello all, I'm new to this webhosting stuff so let me get to it!
Sorry if this has been posted before but I searched on here to no avail, and I also searched on the net and didn't really understand what I was reading :confused:

So here are my questions, what are the differences between Linux and Window hosting? (Explain it in simple terms please :p )

And, I'm currently helping my boyfriend out by helping him out with his new website, his website is basically going to be a music website with his music on there, and we also want a store on the site (ecommerce I guess it's called)... so what I also want to know is, by the description of the site we are creating, is it better to go with Linux or Windows or does it even matter?

I also might be helping someone else with a website for their new clothing line, which will also be selling their items on their website, which would be best for them also?

Any help will be greatly appreciated! :o

[David Harrison]

Some people would favour Linux over Windows, because the Windows desktop operating systems tend to be somewhat unsecure. However the Windows server operating systems are very secure, so it's not a major issue to base your decision on.

The only thing you need to decide on really is what server-side language support (if any) you'll need. PHP and ASP.net are the two big hitters to look out for, though there are others. PHP hosting generally uses Linux servers and ASP.net uses Windows servers, but some hosts offer both ASP.net and PHP support on the same plan, (presumably on a Windows server).

[drhowarddrfine]

If you use a Windows server, it will be slightly more expensive per month than others and you will have to buy into the whole Microsoft way of doing things. PHP will probably be easier to learn and there are more resources, examples, help, etc. on the 'net. PHP might be more of an every man's language, too.

[chazzy]

Actually a lot of windows hosts will give you ASP, PHP, and Perl for development. So you really get an extra language to use. Lots of professional web servers are now windows 2003 web edition boxes. They're very easy to maintain. Windows boxes use IIS and Linux uses Apache - that's a given pretty much. So if you're interested, shell out the extra $1 or $2 a month to get Windows to play w/ ASP. Otherwise, you can stick to Linux.

[felgall]

There are a number of subtle differences between Linux and Windows hosting. 70% of the web is hosted on Linux and most of the Windows hosted sites are big companies. This means that it is much easier to get help from the general community with Linix hosting because that is what most of the people with their own web sites are using. Linux hosting is also slightly cheaper than Windows hosting.

[Maria G]

Thanks for the information! Wow, lots of things to consider. Right now.. I'm leaning more towards Linux... which is a start! :) And it was also what I was worried about because the host I was looking into only offers Unix (which is a form of Linux I guess?), and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to use Linux because I'm on windows xp lol..

Thanks again and I will definitely be sticking around this forum, you all are so helpful! :D

[sacx13]

Linux is the right decision.

I had high volume traffic sites on both OS. And linux was the best ... from optimization to easy use . On Windows hosting the whole server was compromised and some time works some time no.

From a diferent point of view if you dont want to do something big just choose the easyest solution.

Best Regards

[<Eddie>]

And, I'm currently helping my boyfriend out by helping him out with his new website, his website is basically going to be a music website with his music on there, and we also want a store on the site (ecommerce I guess it's called)... so what I also want to know is, by the description of the site we are creating, is it better to go with Linux or Windows or does it even matter?With that in mind, another vote for Linux hosting. If you want ecommerce, there are a vast number of open source [free] ecommerce solutions such as osCommerce (http://www.oscommerce.com/) that work with PHP and MySQL on the linux hosting servers.