Difference between Windows and Linux hosting?

Really not sure on this. Does it affect anything with ur website?
Is one better than the other?

Be prepared. When you ask a question like that, what you mainly get are extremely emotional opinions. Some people are vehemently opposed to one, while others, the reverse.

You do, at times, receive opinions based upon facts; facts either garnered through personal testing or derived from external, verifiable sources.

Everyone who decides to answer this query, please preface with "In my opinion..." or some such. Let's not turn this into a jihad against what we feel is inferior, rather, offer advice based upon fact which cause our opinion to be such as it is.

Thusly....

In my opinion, your best option -- generally speaking -- is a flavor of *nix. The reasons are many and varied, but one thing to keep in mind, whichever you decide upon, ensure the company provides proactive monitoring. A Linux or unix system, kept out of date and baseline installed with absolutely no customizations -- to include security and/or kernel updates is just as, if not more so vulnerable than a Windows server.

However, again, IMHO a fully maintained *nix box will out-perform and outlast any Windows configuration. The stability is greater for a wide array of reasons; natively compiled kernel, natively compiled OS, natively compiled applications. Not to mention development time and the very fact Unix was a serving platform FIRST, then moved to the desktop. It was designed as such.
The way in which memory is handled adds to that stability.
In some cases, the hardware is a gating factor. P-series boxes from IBM and USparc from Sun quite simply, are better, more efficient and stable hardware.
However, even making use of 'intel' architecture, *nix wins out as a serving platform.
From file systems to how memory is allocated to IP stacks... *nix offers much more diversity, security and stability

But then, that's just my opinion.

Cheers.

I agree with Daemonguy 'in opinion'. I think *nix is better for hosting. It is much more secure and much less likely to malfunction or have any downtime due to operating system failure. It is generally more prepared for hosting.

well *nix was designed with servers in mind

Hi Sheepy,

For the average end user - it will not make a difference. What really matters is what you will be coding in, or what the applications you plan on using are coded in.

Linux is extremely popular these days because of the vast array of Open Source applications available that can run on it. Additionally, HTML will run on both, and traditionaly, linux hosts are cheaper (licensing costs, maintenance costs, etc...)

Ultimately, a browser (ie Internet Explorer) running on a PC (ie Windows PC)will not distinguish between applications running on a Linux server or a Windows server - so - to the average surfer/consumer/employee, it really makes no difference at all. The main thing an average consumer worries about is cost and reliability - and as a general rule of thumb, linux is cheaper and more reliable...

Not sure this answers your question, but, I hope it helps none the less..

I recommend Linux Redhat Servers with CPanel + Fantastico Scripts installed, They are very reliable and easy to install + use.

Have been using this for years.