When planning an Internet venture, one of the most basic questions for any Webmaster is what platform to base the Web site on. The two most popular platforms, UNIX and NT are widely available and offer various options and have differing abilities. Your choice of platform will define the utility and type of software that you can use, the kind of applications that your site can run, what kind of server can host your site, the amount of control you have over your site and how efficiently your site will work as it grows in scale. When deciding on whether or not you will choose a UNIX or NT platform it is important to keep in mind what Web host will host your site.
Any Web Host can offer service in either platform but the main difference is in customer support.
Above all, make sure when choosing a host that they have a skilled technical support team that is knowledgeable about the platform you choose. The fundamental difference between UNIX and NT stems from how they came into existence. UNIX was designed to integrate with large network systems, while NT was made to serve the needs of individual users or companies that don't want to deal with the complexities of UNIX administration. UNIX has been around, in one form or another, for the last twenty years and as such is a very mature platform. Because of this, the system is very well developed and stable, and there is a lot of software and applications designed to work for it.