Operating Systems and Feature Support

First, let's cover what both systems will do. Linux and Windows will each run HTML, CSS, DHTML, XHTML, XML, JavaScript, Java, CGI, Perl, and most other popular web technologies absoutely fine. E-mail, FTP, reporting, and other basic features are supported all the same, too. Conveniently, both operating systems also do an excellent job interfacing with Microsoft FrontPage.

Linux excels by offering the best environment for open source development such as PHP and Ruby on Rails. Databases on Linux typically use MySQL or PostGresSQL. Most existing applications that are open source seem to come better suited for Linux, or at least end up there first.

Windows excels by offering the best environment for ASP and other Microsoft-proprietary applications such as Microsoft Exchange. When used on the web, databases on Windows typically rely on MS SQL.

Operating Systems and Security

The Windows VS Linux security debate is a very old one, which the nerd community will likely never agree on. The reason is simple - in the end, nothing on a computer is guaranteed secure. Some things we can't change – such as unskilled server administrators, brute-force password crackers, unsecured PHP or ASP scripts, social engineering risks in large companies, and more. In the end, these variables vastly outweigh the security risks existing within either operating system.

The most common argument against Windows security is that because of its monolithic design (mentioned previously), it is easier for hackers to compromise an entire server. For example, if a security exploit is found in the IIS web server, it could potentially be used in compromising the entire Windows server, as IIS is deeply interconnected with the core of the Windows. It's for this same reason that external browsers such as Mozilla FireFox tend to be seen as safer for a Windows PC than the integrated Microsoft Internet Explorer.