Windows Web Hosting
Out there, when you’re searching for a web hosting service, if you aren’t one of those technological gurus, the question that often comes up; “What’s this Windows web hosting thing anyway?“
 
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| Rank | Webhost | Website | Review | Price | Disk Space | Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1&1 Internet | Visit | Read | $9.99 | 250 GB | 2,500 GB |
| 2 | easyCGI | Visit | Read | $7.96 | 350 GB | 3,500 GB |
| 3 | Go Daddy | Visit | Read | $6.64 | 150 GB | 1,500 GB |
| 4 | IX Web Hosting | Visit | Read | $11.95 | unlimited | unlimited |
| 5 | Omnis Network | Visit | Read | $8.95 | 1,700 GB | 17,000 GB |
| 6 | iPowerWeb | Visit | Read | $9.95 | 100 GB | 1,000 GB |
| 7 | Lunarpages | Visit | Read | $10.95 | 5,000 GB | 400 GB |
| 8 | StartLogic | Visit | Read | $9.95 | 100 GB | 1,000 GB |
Is it the same as the Windows I run on my own PC? The answer is yes and no, but lets get more specific. Yes, it is the same Windows from Microsoft, but it is a “server” version meaning that it is more specialized to a network/hosting environment. Does this mean that because you already use Windows on your own PC that Windows web hosting is what you need - Probably not, as the two are mutually exclusive to an extent.
Windows Web Using Still vague huh?
To clarify, Windows web hosting is like any other hosting. Your website will still be uploaded the same way, hosting speed is no different and it’s completely independent of whatever operating system you are using at home or in the office; Windows (XP, VISTA, ’95 etc), MAC OS, Linux, UNIX and so on. The common web site can use either Windows or other operating system to host on. There is no difference any which way except from a development point of view.
Reasons to use Windows web hosting specifically
- You use Active Server Pages in your website. ASP is very much like PHP, but different and can only execute on an IIS (Internet information Server) webserver which in turn can only run on a Windows server.
- If you intend on using VB (Visual Basic) as a means of another Windows specific coding apparatus.
- You development includes utilizing ACCESS or MS SQL databases.
All 3 points of which are very Windows specific and are not capable of running on another environment unless of course if you look into complex hosting which can offer a hybrid version of hosting that would involve multiple operating systems working as a cluster. Frontpage or as Microsoft likes to call Web Express now is the only Microsoft software that is actually OS free and not dependent on Windows only, however, the extensions are still needed if it is to function properly. Your best bet is to choose Windows for what it can offer and that is for its development products, functionality and price.