Web Hosting: Linux Vs Windows – What’s Better and Why?

When you are looking for a web hosting provider, one of the very first things that you have to consider is what OS the server will run on. Most of the WordPress or blogging lovers respect and choose the Linux based hosting by considering some of the myths like Linux is secured hosting while Windows is not. Linux and Windows are the two popular operating systems on the web because they have a lot of support and are cheap to install, but now let’s try to analyze as to which one really makes the better bet and why!

#1. Common Features

Both operating systems can easily transfer your files; both come with FTP support that enables you to delete, edit, or transfer files. Both of them are usually based on JavaScript and HTML platforms; it’s also possible to run CGI in Windows and Linux. CGI is an application generally used with shopping carts. PHP, and MySQL can run on both OS, but the advanced scripting languages are highly compatible with Linux, and even installing WordPress blogs, or phpBB forums on Linux is a cake-walk too.

#2. The System Server

Linux, the most used web OP, supports MySQL and PHP for absolutely no running cost. Both languages can be coded together to make anything portable and use similar attributes and tags as HTML does, but what makes it different from HTML, is the flexibility of running scripts and functions on the server-side. It also supports various tables such as Sybase, Generic ODBC, Oracle, and Postgre SQL.

Though most web developers use Linux, Windows web hosting is gaining popularity due to ASP programming that is supported only by Windows server. Active Sever Page (ASP) is a free package on Windows 2000 and XP and optional on other windows. It has tags and attributes as XML or HTML, and can run anything like other PC programming languages.

#3. Security

The main concern about Web Hosting Linux Vs Windows is which one is superior for security. Unfortunately, both have certain pros and cons and as far as safety is concerned, both have security problems, but do remember website is created by web developer, not by any operating system. So, if you tighten up those loose ends, and loop-holes in security areas, it’s possible to prevent the chances of hacking in both the cases, though Linux once again turns out to be a safer bet.

#4. The Bottom Line

Microsoft provides Windows licenses at fairly high prices, while Linux is an open sourced operating system, which means web hosting will naturally become more expensive if you run the licensed version of windows.

In terms of performance, reliability, and stability, there is not a huge difference between Linux and Windows and finally, it all just depends on what you are comfortable with. But, due to the compatibility of Linux with popular apps such as WordPress blogging software, Joomla, Drupal, phpBB forums, and the likes of them, most of the beginner level webmasters prefer Linux over Windows, unless they need to run ASP.NET web apps.

Thus, these are the 4 best differences between Linux and Windows Hosting services.

UPDATE: 200th Blog Post!

Woo hoo! We’ve been blogging since October 2010, and we’re excited to say this is our 200th blog post! Can you believe it! Our sincere thanks to Tips and Tricks visitors for reading our blog.