Why do so many people use windows for web hosting?

[davids355]

I have a gig on Fiverr for IT Support. and I get so many requests for help with hosting on windows server. I just cant understand why people want to use windows for hosting - its so clunky compared to linux.....

 

[Reaver]

Because they know what Windows is. They don't know what Linux is, but Windows is something they've been with their whole lives. So they come to the conclusion that if it's a Windows server, they'll know how to handle it. It's going to work like Windows. Joke's on them - Windows isn't even a real blond.

 

[loedown]

A lot of people get confused when they go to get web hosting and the site says Linux and windows. People are like, oh I run windows I need windows hosting.

 

[davids355]

Yea that makes sense. I guess Linux is scary to a lot of people. Its ironic though because running stuff like mySQL on linux is so well documented - and thanks to CPANEL and the likes, all the hard work is taken care of automatically.

But when it comes time to start moving around websites and SQL databases on windows it suddenly looks a lot more scary than Linux :-/ Not to mention the resource overhead with windows is so much greater than with linux.

 

[Reaver]

People will rarely do their research before they purchase web hosting. They don't know what they need or what they should be looking for.

I plan on purchasing a VPS this summer, because it will actually be cheaper to host my sites on one than the shared hosting plan I have right now. Guess what I've been doing since I made that decision?

Researching.

Two friends recommended Linux servers to me with cPanel. So I went on a spree to find out exactly how they stacked up against Windows servers.

I've come to the conclusion that Windows is crap. But Windows servers have always been crap. The first time I heard about them was in a barrage of complaints about how disgusting they are. That was years ago. Nothing has changed.

It's about what's best for the job and easiest for me to handle. Most people don't understand that. They were told they need something so they just go buy it.

You should be thankful, actually. If they were smarter you wouldn't be making any money.

 

[alexio]

Many SEO tools, and scrapping tools are working on windows, and not Linux

 

[AbeloHost]

I get the same requests on a frequent basis. These potential clients clearly don't want to pay for a license, and as a reputable hosting business, we don't want to install cracked Windows versions as what most hosting providers do. So I always suggest them Linux with a Windows desktop environment. It's Linux but looks like Windows. Most of them agree to this. Perhaps this is something that will work for you as well.

 

[robattila128]

People prefer an OS that tracks everything they do in private, sends encrypted traffic about your activities back to headquarters (Microsoft, NSA) has binary's disguised against de-compiling (propriety software) and your computers security and source code is fully reliant on a small developer team at Microsoft instead of world-wide by millions of programmers like it is in Linux.

Just kidding, the average user has no idea any of this is going on. They just think Linux is hard, it's actually very straight forward and documentation/logs are all very detailed. Oh well.

 

[ChrisX]

There is a lot of software developed in .NET which needs windows. SEO software, small biz tools etc etc.
I have a hard time believing people are hosting on windows just for the familiarity...

 

[Sristy]

It is a never ending love affair between noobs and windows

 

[Crashtest]

Yeah first server I ever bought was windows running plesk instead on cpanel... quickly realised the mistake I had made, just setting up smart urls for wp was kind of nightmarish for the unexperienced webmaster i was back then!! I hear some people like it though...

 

[THUNDERELVI]

A lot of websites are built with ASP.NET simply because Microsoft makes programming with ASP 10x easier than with PHP for example (through Visual Studio) and these sites need a Windows hosting environment. Other than ASP, I would never choose Windows before Linux when it comes to hosting a website. For SEO tools though, Windows VPS is a must!

 

[holeman]

Because they probably have experience with .net and they don't want to learn new stuff for their projects so they stick to windows.

 

[immaletyoufinish]

lol Windows for a Web server reeks of noobsauce.

Actually for .NET stuff now .NET Core also runs under Linux, so anything developed under the latest version can actually be developed and deployed on Linux. Which is pretty awesome I reckon.

 

[AryabhattZero]

because windows is what they use everyday and they think that it will be the same ..
but after buying windows plan shit happens and they cant figure out anything xD

Linux ❤

 

[virtualpurity]

Because they know what Windows is. They don't know what Linux is, but Windows is something they've been with their whole lives. So they come to the conclusion that if it's a Windows server, they'll know how to handle it. It's going to work like Windows. Joke's on them - Windows isn't even a real blond.

I dont know why this comes as a surprise for most of you.

Windows software has its own perks, there are things you can do with windows server that you can not do with your standard linux + cpanel or any virtulization software.

Not saying that OP`s customers take advantage of this and are not noobs considering they went to fiverr for support, but take VSphere for example.

There is no other software that can achieve the oversell and resources allocation that you can do with VShpere. Not to mention the detailed reports and real time information that are available to you with just a simple click.

And all windows products are very GUI friendly unlike dealing with linux systems over command line, and i guess that is the reason why so many noobs out there also use them.

Dont get me wrong, i am also a linux fan, just pointing out that not all people using windows are noobs, in fact some of the biggest corporations use windows software for their hosting needs and network management.

 

[Capo Dei Capi]

I've found linux to be easier than window when setting up a website since its just a few commands.

 

[Aty]

Perhaps they don't know which one is best, or maybe some people are learning, getting into windows server stuff.