The majority of web sites hosted on the internet are hosted on Unix servers yet Windows hosting serves the needs of many of the webs most powerful and complex web hosting sites and applications. There is a common misconception that web masters using a Windows PC must use a Windows based hosting plan. This could not be further from the truth! For most web sites a solid Unix plan such as the Bytesweb Basic plan is all the web hosting you will ever need, but if you are planning to use something like Active Server Pages, .NET or plug into a Microsoft Access or SQL database, you're going to want to solid Windows 2003 hosting plan.

Bytesweb offers only Unix hosting plans.

When It Matters - ASP (Active Server Pages) or PHP
Many web sites are developed using more advanced scripting languages than basic html, most commonly either ASP or PHP. While it is possible to run either language on either platform, typically PHP is associated with Unix while ASP is associated with Windows. After all Microsoft is who developed ASP. There is also a more advanced programming language from Microsoft called .NET which pretty much also calls for a Windows platform.

When It Matters - Your Database of Choice
Another common reason one may choose a Windows hosting environment over a Unix environment is their use of a particulat database with their web site. A very common Unix database is MySQL. Most Windows hosting users will typically use either Microsoft Access or MS SQL Server as their database.

If You Had To Ask
Sometimes this is too broad a statement, but I'll say it anyway. In most cases, if you had to ask Windows or Unix then chances are a Unix plan is going to be the best choice for you. Good news too - in most cases Unix plans cost less than Windows hosting plans and come pre-packed with a few more features - although the maring between the two is growing less every day.