JeremyHelms

Is Windows really right for the web?

December 11, 2006 at 1:27 am

More and more I find myself contemplating leaving the Microsoft product lines for less-expensive, less cumbersome and less error-prone products. I've used Microsoft Windows since Windows 3.1 back in the day and DOS before that, so I've seen the leaps and bounds it has made over the years. And, with Vista on the horizon, I'm sure all things will be hype in the Microsoft world again for most people; but not so much for me this time around. I'm not even looking forward to it's release believe it or not.

Even more, I'm considering migrating all of my hosting customers and personal sites over to a Linux server of choice, running the Mono Project (mod_mono) to take care of my .NET applications and closing down my Windows 2003 servers.

Not only will hosting costs drop considerably, but I won't have to screw with IIS and it's poor, irritating issues anymore (whew!), I won't have to pay Microsoft licensing fees for every damn server and/or server application, and the list goes on, and on, and on, and on...

If I do decide to go this route, I think I will be much happier with Linux, and especially Apache as it has become a very robust web server application and can handle most of my SEO concerns right out of the box; no more writing libraries to do trivial tasks such as URL rewriting. Yes, I know, I can run Apache on Windows - but what's the point, that's just more overhead for the already bloated Microsoft OS and all it's "standard" services that are running.

Also, with Linux being the main backbone for most of the open source development projects, I will be more likely to make the change to Ruby [on Rails] or a Python-based framework for future web development like I have always wanted to. And until then, I can still bang out a .NET project (running under mod_mono) when I need to get something done and out the door.

About the author

I am Jeremy Helms, 28 year old graphic designer, web designer, site architect, programmer, copywriter and ambitious entrepreneur. I was born and live in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This site is my personal periodical for design, code, business and other topics. When I'm not glued to the computer, I enjoy music, movies, late-night television and sometimes a good night out on the town with friends.

I began professional work in the IT industry 13 years ago in September, 1995. I started my first business in 1998, incorporated my second business in 2001, my third in 2002 and my fourth and most recent in 2006. I am a sponge — I am constantly exploring and learning — about business, design, programming, history, society, and whatever pops up on blogs across the web.

• I have been happily married for 5 years; together for a total of 10 years
• I am a father of two boys; Junior (born 02-06-07 @ 6:17PM — 8lbs 13oz.) and Jedi (born 05-06-08 @ 12:39PM — 8lbs 4oz.)
• I am a free and accepted Master Mason, belonging to Florida Alpha Lodge No. 172
• I have two prize Labrador Retrievers (Buck & Brody)
• I graduated from Choctawhatchee Senior High School
• Some of my favorite movies include Snatch, L4yer Cake, Blade Runner, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, THX 1138, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, the Star Wars hexology and Ronin