For years, most of us just thought that two things were a given. Our own desktop computers ran on some version of MS Windows. The applications actually ran, and the data was stored, on another computer which ran with UNIX or LINUX. We constantly moved our files back and forth, from one environment to another To make this discussion a little more clear, let me explain some terms.

Those of us in the business call our own computer, or the computers of users, the "client". The actual web host, where websites or applications ran in a live and production environment, is called the server. The server is also the place where databases are stored. The client requests data from the server. Sometimes the "client" and "server" are actually the same machine. For instance, when you open up a page that is stored on your own computer in your internet browser. Your own computer is running a client application like an internet browser, and your own computer is also serving up the web page. However, most of the time if you are creating websites or applications that a group of other people will use, it is assumed that the client (desktop) and the server (host) will be different.

So we all worked in this environment and automatically did something that did not make sense all of the time. We used our own desktop machine as the client, and usually also edited scripts, data, pictures, and other files on our own computer in a MS Windows environment! Why did we do that? Well, to be honest, we did it because we were more comfortable working with Windows software because that is what we used every day!

Then we transferred those files up to a web host, which ran under a totally different environment! Lots of problems happened that needed to be fixed including differences in database systems, file names, and so on! Not the least of these problems was our familiarity with the UNIX or LINUX system! We worked in Windows most of the time, and then actually had to use another operating system for our production environment! Even though we were very familiar with our desktop operating system, we often had to call in a UNIX or LINUX expert to diagnose problems on the host computer!

Another critical difference is the available database system. Nowadays, Windows and Linux web hosts do run many of the same applications very transparently. However, some critical database systems like MS ACCESS and MS SQL only run under Windows. If you have the expertise in these databases, and that's what you run on your own computer, it seems very convenient to be able to simply transfer your data to the same environment.

You can find very secure Windows web hosting, with companies that are experts in running the operating system you are most familiar with! Next time you are looking for a web or application hosting company, maybe you should consider the same operating system you use every day!