How does one design an effective and convincing business website? Most definitely by choosing the right web host. Although, most of the Internet service providers (ISPs) offer loads of space for blog posting or creating a web page, integrating a top-quality multimedia or an online retail store requires a larger space, as well as a dedicated IT support. However, choosing the right web host provider or plan is not the only decision businesses need to make — it is equally important to choose the right web platforms best suited for your needs – and the choice is usually between the two most popular platforms – Windows and Linux!

Your home operating system ideally does not affect the kind of hosting account you choose. But, the kind of web hosting you require will largely be determined by the kind of language or database deployment technique you prefer to use on your website. Users generally consider Linux or Windows web hosting as the keystones for their website. Both feature similar basic functionality however their forms differ to a large extent.

How to choose – Linux or Windows?

When it’s about Web hosting, Linux is the most preferred operating system for web servers. It is known for its reliability, stability, and efficiency. Choose a Linux Hosting account if you’ll be using PHP, Python, Perl, or CGI scripting. If you wish to integrate ready-to-use solutions on your website, such as blog posts, CMS or forums, you will find a host of open source applications for Linux hosting, easily obtainable on the web.

If you wish to design a dynamic website, and you’re going to use ASP or ASP.NET, then a Windows Hosting account is a convenient choice. ASP.NET applications will ideally require some kind programming on your computer system before it can be used online. Windows hosting comparatively has lesser apps to choose from, and they all belong to licensed providers, you have to pay for. Also, Windows gives you the option for integrating different degrees of design management structures onto the website using the drag-and-drop mechanisms.

Linux uses control panels such as cPanel or WHM, while Windows uses Plesk. Although, the industry trusts the stability of Linux platform over Windows, recent understandings prove that with the right server configuration and proper maintenance, Windows servers can be equally reliable as their Linux counterparts. There is practically not much difference in the speed between Linux and Windows hosting. But, the loading speed will largely depend on other factors like the amount of data, and the scripting language used.

Conclusion? Agreed that Linux has been around for a longer time and has retained the trust factor amongst users, however Windows too is an advanced platform capable of streamlining development and database deployment, all thanks to its licensed applications.