Windows and Linux have their own advantages and
disadvantages. People usually say that Linux platform is more reliable
and stable. Linux users and programmers are usually fanatics of their
operating system.

On the other hand, Windows OS doesn't have so much fanatics, or they do
not show themselves so much. This may be explained by the fact that
Windows was developed by Microsoft, and not by many independent
programmers.

Windows and Linux Performance:

If we compare Windows against Linux, we can note one thing: Linux
can handle more processes that runs simultaneously (at the same time)
being much better than Windows. Windows becomes unstable when running
many processes on a single machine.

This might be a very good reason to choose Linux, but in my
opinion, a server can perform very well regardless of the operating
system: Windows or Linux. Its all up to system administrators and
server hardware.

Linux is always free. Windows costs money!

There is very popular opinion that Linux flourishes because of its
open-source. Many programmers work hard to improve Linux' quality.
Mainly, Linux operating system is always free.

But Windows is a global and powerful product
developed by many programmers from Microsoft. But the difference is
that Windows programmers are paid for their work by Microsoft.
Microsoft Windows operating system is paid, so every hosting company
that wants to provide customers with Windows hosting should buy one or
more Windows Server licenses.

So, what is the decision?

The right decision between Windows and Linux should be made based
on your website and other needs. The right decision should be made based
on the technology your web site is going to use.

There are many technologies you can use while writing your website application.

There are such technologies as PHP, Perl, Python, ASP, ASP.NET,
Java and more. ASP, ASP.NET and PHP deserve special attention due to
their huge popularity and functionality. PHP is open source project and
can be used for free. ASP and ASP.NET are the Microsoft products and
work only with Windows. However, PHP can be used on both Windows and
Linux. But mainly PHP is used on Linux.

Making the correct decision:

Microsoft Windows is an operating system and a hosting platform
that has one big advantage: you can use ASP and ASP.NET. If you are
going to use ASP and/or ASP.NET for building your web application, then
Windows hosting is the right choice for you at the moment!

And, you can easily use PHP on both Windows and Linux. For example,
if you want to migrate from ASP.NET to PHP you will not need to change
your operation system - you can still use Windows!

Going back to Linux: while you can't use ASP on Linux, this OS is
the most popular for web hosting servers. The stability of Windows and
Linux depends on system administrators, not on operating system.

Finally...As for most of the owners of hosting companies, they recommend to use
Linux as your default decision because of its deserved stability,
reliability and price (Linux hosting is always cheaper than Windows
because Linux is free and, as I said, Windows always costs money for
the hosts). However, some features are not supported by Linux, for
example, ASP and ASP.NET. If you require these technologies, then this
is the time to choose Windows as your web hosting platform.