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Creating a good looking, polished website is extremely important to both businesses and personal website owners as well. As the industry of web services continues to develop the expectations of both user and viewer alike are rising exponentially. The ability to create such websites was once a mystery to many and only the most highly trained people could accomplish the feat. Now with the many site building programs available it is easier and easier for everybody to get connected with the mass market available online.

The Microsoft product ‘Windows’ is among the most popular operating systems in the world today. It is the standard most personal computers come equipped with, and the system the average person is most likely to be familiar with both at home, and at work. In the past many technical operations were solely based on Linux systems and required great technical skills that were beyond the scope of many individuals. With the advanced popularity and need for websites scripts and software programs began to be developed for use with Microsoft Windows and made to be understandable by the average person. Windows allows for a vast array of scripting languages to support the desired website functions that are most popular today.

If you find a website needs to be hosted incorporating the use of Microsoft products it is advisable to use Windows as a platform so that you know the applications will operate correctly. An effective Internet Information Server (IIS) is one of Microsoft’s many features. If your hosting environment uses ASP, Microsoft access, and SQL then IIS is absolutely required and you must use the windows platform to create your website. A Windows webhosting environment has a lot of plug-ins and pre-made programs and components such as CGI specifically for use on Windows web servers.

Windows vs UNIX

Web sites that are hosted on UNIX and Windows servers can be accessed universally. The difference between the two operating system lies in terms of the software they provide to server data. Windows can always provide better software services for all purposes. In terms of reliability, UNIX is just a few steps ahead since it is known to be extremely stable and does run for years without rebooting. However, Windows can manage to meet the requirements of modern websites far better than UNIX.

Wherever there are Microsoft products such as MS Access databases, ASP for delivering content, and VBScript site enhancements you will need to create your site with Windows. UNIX is not compatible with those systems. If your web host uses them you must comply and use Windows even if you normally do not. The things that UNIX provides can be found already available in the Windows environment.

Windows vs Linux

Both of these programs uses and supports the Cold Fusion, HTML and JavaScript programs that make the most commonly desired applications available. It was once difficult to use Linux with FrontPage extensions but they have made that a possibility in the newer Linux operating environment. The biggest difference is Linux supports PHP where Windows supports ASP.

The biggest advantage of Windows over Linux is that it runs all of the Microsoft software such as Access and can also create MS SQL database that is used by many hosts now. The Windows platform gives developers programming environments such as VBScripts (Visual Basic Scripts), Active Server Pages (ASP), and the Index capabilities of MS Index Server. Linux is not able to access those Microsoft features so if a use requires the use of MS SQL, ASP, OR VBScript as a method of development they must use Windows.

The best method to choose between the various platforms is to study what Windows has to offer. Not all of the Windows packages offer every component so you need to examine them carefully.

Some of the features of the Windows operating system are:

* .NET Support

This is the most commonly used feature web hosts use to provide their service. It is the most modern offer that Microsoft’s Active Server Page provides. It is a valuable tool in the creation of web pages and is necessary to use with IIS.

* Databases

Generally most of the website owners have a tendency to provide Microsoft Access 2000 Database. But if the business is bigger and the company for whom the hosting would be down is large size, then MS SQL is required.

* PHP and ColdFusion

ColdFusion is an advanced option and all web hosts do not provide this tool. Only some specialized websites require this.

* Control Panel

Your control panel is the way you communicate with and access your website. It is important to use the same operating system that your host uses to provide this feature.

Other very useful features of the Windows platform include such items as POP3 email, IDs and Aliases, Bandwidth, IP, Webmail, and Backup support as well as SMTPs and FTP accounts, along with CDONTS and ASP support.

Windows will remain one of the most popular forms of hosting supports because there is a large popularity in the general public in regards to Windows as an operating system. The company has done well to brand themselves as a stable, reliable computer environment system. The company’s public presence also gives the impression of long-lasting stability and there is less fear that the system will go out of style, or disappear requiring a new purchase. Most web hosts now provide services specifically for the Windows based platform users. All of this makes Microsoft Windows a massive force in the computer operations world.

Windows has a great support system for its users. This includes many free tutorials, and pages and pages of information as well as live and virtual technical support. That is just a part of what makes it so extremely popular amongst average people without technical backgrounds.

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Tags: Web Hosting