I hope someone can help clear something up for a newbie. I always thought Windows versus Apple would be the problem. I almost signed up with Hostgator only to find out that they don't have Windows web hosting, only Unix (I think it's UNIX or LINIX), same happened with Hostmonster and downtownhost. What does this mean? After you get done laughing at the naivity of this question, please help me! :confused:

It depends a lot on your preference more than your needs now a days. Most of the things you can do in linux hosting you can do in windows hosting. Based on my assumption of your knowledge about this, for you I don’t think it will make much of a difference. Just to clear a few things up, whether you choose linux or windows, the website will still be viewable from any operating system. For the most part windows hosting is a bit more expensive because Microsoft charges for windows and most linux operating systems are free.
If you tell us what kind of website you are planning on hosting, maybe we can give you more helpful information.
Hope this helps!

It depends a lot on your preference more than your needs now a days. Most of the things you can do in linux hosting you can do in windows hosting. Based on my assumption of your knowledge about this, for you I don’t think it will make much of a difference. Just to clear a few things up, whether you choose linux or windows, the website will still be viewable from any operating system. For the most part windows hosting is a bit more expensive because Microsoft charges for windows and most linux operating systems are free.
If you tell us what kind of website you are planning on hosting, maybe we can give you more helpful information.
Hope this helps!
Thanks, John! I'm using a Windows operating system on my computer. I will be creating a multi-page website for a small learning disabilities tutoring and evaluation business (hopefully a larger one one day). I want it to give info. about my business, provide links to organizations, have email capabilities, link to papers I write, etc.

Thanks, John! I'm using a Windows operating system on my computer. I will be creating a multi-page website for a small learning disabilities tutoring and evaluation business (hopefully a larger one one day). I want it to give info. about my business, provide links to organizations, have email capabilities, link to papers I write, etc.


Do a bit of research before posting. Nearly any host will tell you in their FAQ that it doesn't matter what OS you have, its what you will be running on the server...

Do a bit of research before posting. Nearly any host will tell you in their FAQ that it doesn't matter what OS you have, its what you will be running on the server...
Ouch! I called both Hostmonster and Hostgator and neither offered to tell me when I asked about whether they had Windows web hosting what you so "nicely" told me. Otherwise, I would not have asked the forum.

Hello Jillian,

It actually doesnt matter what operating system you are running on your computer at home or work - what matters is what language you will be coding your website in. If your website will be html or php for example - the linux web hosting should be fine for you. If you will be building your site in ASP or .NET or intend on building your site using something like Sharepoint - then you will need to look at Windows offerings.

If you build a site in html for example - you can work on those files on a MAC or PC or whatever from home or office, then just upload them to a server. The server will not care if you are on a MAC or PC or whether your users are on a MAC or PC - their respective browsers will render what is sent by the server - and as long as the server can support the language your website is written in - you are golden...

hopefully this helps....

Hear are a couple of decider's -

1. if your using an Access database, classic asp or asp.net then you would be advised to use windows hosting as these items are native to it and in the case of access and asp.net will only work on windows platforms.

2. if you using mySQL, Perl, python or PHP then you might want to choose Linux as these are more native to Linux, however all are also available for windows and are usually also installed on windows servers.

3. If all you are going to publish is html and images then it makes not difference and you budget should be the deciding factor.

However in my mind if you want the most scope and to be able to use a wider variety of programming languages and tools then you would be better off hosting on a Windows server, if you are also used to Windows as on a PC then you may find that some of the terminology used on Windows hosting is more familiar.

Thank you so much! You were very helpful. What is .NET? My email address ends in .net. Is that the same as .NET? If not, why does it have to be so confusing? Hello Jillian,

It actually doesnt matter what operating system you are running on your computer at home or work - what matters is what language you will be coding your website in. If your website will be html or php for example - the linux web hosting should be fine for you. If you will be building your site in ASP or .NET or intend on building your site using something like Sharepoint - then you will need to look at Windows offerings.

If you build a site in html for example - you can work on those files on a MAC or PC or whatever from home or office, then just upload them to a server. The server will not care if you are on a MAC or PC or whether your users are on a MAC or PC - their respective browsers will render what is sent by the server - and as long as the server can support the language your website is written in - you are golden...

hopefully this helps....

Thank you, Wannabe. While I'm familiar with Windows, I think there are more well-rated web hosts that don't use Windows as a platform. That's what's making me go towards Linix.

Thank you so much! You were very helpful. What is .NET? My email address ends in .net. Is that the same as .NET? If not, why does it have to be so confusing?

Hi Jillian,

lol - I guess it can be a little confusing....

no, having an email address ending in .net is not the same thing. That is simply a different TLD (ie .com, .net, .ca, etc).

.NET as its referred to here is a development language that only runs on Microsoft environments. If you dont know what it is, then I do not think you need to be concerned with it.

Best of luck with your search and hopefully all goes well for you....

Thank you for your patience and your answer!