When it comes to web hosting servers, there are two most popular choices available: Windows and Linux. However, which one would you prefer is a hard decision to take. Both of them have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. In order to make sure that you choose the right platform as per your needs, you would need to have some amount of understanding on both of these web hosting servers.

As far as web hosting is concerned, Windows is a popular choice, given the fact that most of the people are aware of the workings of this OS. It is also more user-friendly. However, lately there has been a tremendous increase in the popularity of Linux. And there are good reasons for that. Linux is known to be a very reliable, efficient and stable system. And for these very reasons, it is preferred over Windows for demanding environment of mail and web servers.

However, it is also important to consider what applications would you need or like to use for your hosting? You would have to take into consideration the scripting languages and tools you would be using; for example, if you would be using Perl, MySQL or PHP, then you can go ahead with Linux. However, if you plan to use Microsoft-specific applications, then Windows based server would be the best choice for you.

Also, another advantage with Windows based server is that clients are able to use the third party applications developed by Microsoft. This may be quite important to many businesses as their business may require the use of many different Microsoft applications within their hosting, and this would not be possible if they use the Linux based server.

Cost wise, Windows server is expensive as compared to Linux based server, as latter is an open source OS available for free to everyone.

Thus, we see that if Windows is good in one, Linux is good in another. Before you opt for anyone of them, a careful analysis of your requirements would be necessary.