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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 a website has to be hosted, that would incorporate the use of Microsoft products, it is always advisable to use Windows as a platform. Microsoft, windows feature an effective Internet Information Server (IIS). Whenever the hosting is based on ASP and Microsoft Access and SQL server, use of IIS is recommended or rather is needed. There are several components used for web hosting like that of CGI. Use of these components can be best experienced if the website is hosted on Windows. Windows web hosting also has a lot of pre-made programs designed for use with Windows web servers. Windows compared to 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. Windows is used where Microsoft products are into application like, MS Access databases, ASP for delivering dynamic content, and VBScript for site enhancements. UNIX is not devised to accommodate the mentioned technologies. Therefore those who are in need of these technologies will ultimately have to depend on Windows. Moreover what UNIX provides, is already there with Windows. Windows vs Linux Both Windows and Linux can support standard Cold Fusion, HTML and JavaScript files. Previously it was difficult to use Linux server for FrontPage extensions but now it is easy to do so. CGI and Perl platforms are though supported by Windows but Linux is commonly used for these. Linux commonly supports PHP while Windows support ASP. The main compensation for using Windows based systems over Linux is that it is able to run on Microsoft's software such as Access and on MS SQL databases too. A Window's server will give its developers the ability to use the Microsoft programming systems like Visual Basic Scripts, Active Server Pages (ASP) MS Index Server. Linux is not able to operate on those technologies and the user will be unable to access them to use its development tools for their websites so it is best to use Windows where they are involved. It is always better to study what the windows package has to offer. Not all packages offer the same facilities but whatever they offer has to be studied for better result and performances: Some of the features of the Windows operating system are: * NET Support ASP.net is the most modern of Microsoft's Active Server Page and allows for a great integration of information sharing and access. It is an important part of the Internet Information Server or IIS. Some servers charge additional fees for this feature. * Databases Most businesses offer the Microsoft Access 2000 database as a way to use their systems. If a company is larger and requires a lot more space for such information then MS SQL is a requirement for use. * PHP and ColdFusion These are advanced features that not all web hosts make available. They usually only give this option if they have it to the most specialized of websites. * Control Panel Your control panel is your connection to your site. It is how you will create, store and manage your information. It is necessary to be able to use it effectively. Other options you might expect from your web hosting service that uses Windows are POP3 email, IDs and Aliases, Bandwidth, Backup, IP, Webmail, STMTPs, and FTP accounts, CDONTS and ASP support. Windows web hosting will always be popular among the customers as the logo and the name itself generates a trust and reliability. This Microsoft product has created such image in the minds of the people that they are not willing to go for any other option. Windows is in use since several years and has created a brand image for itself. There are several hosts that also provide Windows platform for hosting small business websites. It is an expectation of the people that Windows web hosting would also for a longer period of time and hence would ensure stability which is not available in other platforms. 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.
Article Source: http://www.articlesfeed.com
About the author: Matt Hedges is lead writer for www.webhostingmadness.com, a web hosting review site.
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