There are two types of hosting platforms available in the world of web hosting and these are Unix and Windows. Both of these come with its own pros and cons and it is difficult to say which is the better out of the two it is seen that Linux hosting is a popular choice over the Windows hosting. There are some benefits of Linux hosting over Windows hosting and these are in areas like:
Stability: In this area Linux hosting beats Windows hosting by miles. This is because Linux can handle much higher server loads and that too quite successfully than Windows. Also you would find that the Linux hosting servers need rebooting very rarely while in Windows it is absolutely necessary almost always. The servers having Linux are known for their excellent up-time and constant availability.
Level of performance: Though both the hosting perform very well yet it is often seen that Linux servers can take much higher load than the Windows servers.
Compatibility: If you have designed and programmed your website on a Linux hosting server then you can easily host it on a Windows server whenever you need it, but it is not always true in the reverse order. Thus it is better to design a website in Unix.
Price: It is important that you spend lesser money on the web host because then you can keep the money for investing in the development of the website. Windows hosting and other related hosting environments such SQL Server are quite expensive. The operating systems and the licenses also require significant amount of investment. In this area, Linux hosting scores brownie points. Linux is available for free and therefore it can be downloaded, installed and operated for free. Thus the web hosts using Linux do not charge too much money and thus are popular choices for website owners. Windows hosting is always expensive and thus it is not so popular.