Both platforms have their own unique features, advantages and disadvantages. If you are going to add dynamic content on your Web site using PHP, or CGI scripts and want to interface with a mySQL database, then you should choose Unix for better compatibility with these applications. However, if you are going to use ASP/Access scripting combinations, ColdFusion, VB scripts or a MS SQL Server database, then choose Windows.

There are other considerations as well. Unix-based hosting is generally seen as being more stable, it also performs faster and can be more secure since most malicious software is written to cause damage to Windows. However, you will need Windows hosting if you are going to develop in .NET or Visual Basic. Generally, we recommend our customers use Unix, unless they need specific features/applications only available on the Windows platform.

Note: The operating system that you use on your desktop computer is independent of the operating system that you choose to host your Web site on. For example, most personal Web sites are created with Microsoft FrontPage and even though it is a Microsoft product, it can be hosted on a Unix Platform with FrontPage Extensions installed. Network Solutions offers FrontPage Extensions as a standard feature with both Unix and Windows Web Hosting Packages.