One of the most popular question people asked when getting their hosting service is: Should I get Windows hosting or Linux hosting. Many of the hosters are unclear on those two types of hosting.
The only difference lies in the requirement of the site you want to host.
Requirement
Most of the windows hosting provider will provide you support for scripting langauage like ASP and database like MSSQL whereas most of the linux hosting providers will provide you support for scripting language like PHP and database like MySQL. If you need to use ASP or any .NET services, choose Windows server. However, do not be mistaken as you can run PHP scripting on a Windows server as well.
On the other hand, if you just need to use PHP, you can just get a Linux server for your hosting. If you don’t need to use any scripting languages, then you can freely choose between any of the two hosting platforms.
Cost
Another common question customers might ask is: Why is Windows hosting more expensive than Linux hosting? The answer is simple. Linux hosting is always cheaper as compared to Windows hosting due of the additional Windows licensing fee required. Also most of the sofwtares used on linux servers are open source that is free, thus making Linux hosting a cheaper alternative to Windows hosting.