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Matt Cutts on the 22nd of this month has made the official announcement of rolling out Penguin 2.0. The new version of Web spam algorithm from the Google.

“We started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin web spam algorithm this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete. About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. The change has also finished rolling out for other languages world-wide. The scope of Penguin varies by language, e.g. languages with more web spam will see more impact.”

-Matt Cutts
May 22, 2013,
In GOOGLE/SEO

The new version of the Web Spam algorithm update by Google is expected to bring about a lot of changes in the SERP and also the PR of pages. Google warns that Webmasters who are doing SEO using black-hat tricks like cloaking and spam anchoring should watch out as this update will not only penalize such websites but also block those sites permanently from appearing in search results.

Another important thing that webmasters should watch out for is the comment that Matt made stating that the new algorithm will penalize sites that have bought links from high PR sites. He made it clear that it is not wrong to sell links for money but it should be made obvious that it is just equal to a commercial ad appearing on a site and should be disguised as editorial or organic.

An important update that is bundled with the new Penguin 2.0 is the algorithm to spot hacked web sites. Google says that it will make the Webmaster Tools from Google a single spot for fixing your site and streamlining it for SEO. The new update will recognize any hacks that have happened in the site and not just notify the webmasters through the webmaster tools but will also guide them to recover the site from the attack.

And techies, do not panic. Google is not trying to crush SEO. The one thing that Google is trying to make clear is that you cannot do SEO using unfair means. As per the update made by Google, it says, “If your focus is creating a user interactive, content rich sites that users will want to come back and again, make a bookmark or suggest to their friends, then Google Search will align with you and help you by bringing your site to the top of the search results”. Further it is made clear that now and forever, quality and genuine content will be appreciated and valued by Google. For a detailed press release by Matt Cutts from Google, have a look at the video below.

Matt Cutts Interview on the Roll Out of Penguin 2.0

As an expert in the field, I personally suggest that once you are able to create genuine content that will attract readers then Google will surely help you in promoting your site. Not just that, if your site gains a respectable rank with your quality content then I guarantee that you will not have to worry about any algorithm updates because since Google Search started, quality content is valued, no matter what and will continue to be so.

The future of SEO

Having said that yon can no longer rely on black-hat tricks or plain link building for SEO, now the natural question will be what is the way forward for SEO industry?. Yes, and that is of course one of the most asked question in leading forums after this release. To answer that I say that you have to step into the new generation of SEO. By new generation of SEO, I mean you have to do SEO using quality content. You can even call this Content Marketing. And trust me; as long as your content is genuine this is perfectly legal.

It is just like you are writing a book and selling the publishing rights to another publisher. Very similarly the new SEO will be to create quality, creative and attractive content that is genuine. One important thing I would like to impart to you is; please do not go to cheap SEO companies that gives false promises. If they had little success in the past, they will not have any success in the future. They may even damage your rankings.

With the new update Google hasn’t just uplifted the quality of Search Results but also the need for quality SEO companies. Only SEO companies that concentrate on genuine content and work with high standards can survive in the industry and make noticeable achievements. So go ahead and start your endeavor in the field of New SEO. All the Best!

Right from 2012, Mobile browsing has been rapidly growing as the new trend. It is going to be the same for at least a decade to come and it is an area you should be capitalizing on. When it comes to mobile sites, the issue now is picking the appropriate method for deploying websites on mobile devices. Though there are different methods for deploying mobile websites, the responsive design strategy seems very promising. Responsive design makes the site instantly mobile across multiple platforms. But one thing to keep in mind is the physical limitations as content must be developed with responsive design in mind. Designing a separate mobile website is also an option. Traditionally a site for each kind of device was built separately along with the main site.

However, with the plethora of devices on the market, it is literally impossible to build a site tailored for each device and yes, it is a very costly commitment. To address this, as developers you should be looking to build a site that adapts itself to the media size and resolution of the device in which it is rendering. When you build a responsive website, it is sure to attract audience on many platforms. Let’s see what you should be doing to build a responsive website.

Most of you will be familiar with CSS. Most of the websites you build will be linked with a stylesheet. The power of stylesheets is that it can be used to build highly responsive websites. Yes techies, using stylesheets you can build websites that are media aware and do it with ease. Here is how you should be doing this.

Since the days of CSS 2.1, the style sheets have had some measure of device awareness through media types. If you have written a print stylesheet then you should be familiar with this basic media aware concept of CSS.



This is the very basic content awareness that you can incorporate into your CSS. Using this you can link two different stylesheets with the same content and based on whether the selection is screen or print the stylesheet is linked with the content. Starting to understand the potential of CSS? There is more that it has to offer.

Apart from designing neatly designed page printouts, the CSS specifications also supplied us with a bevy of acceptable media types. But most browsers and devices never really embraced the spirit of the specifications, dropping many of the media types loosely implemented. Thankfully, the W3C created media queries as part of the CSS3 specification, improving upon the media types. A media query will allow you to target not only certain device classes, but to actually inspect the physical characteristics of the device rendering our work. Have a look at the following snippet.



In the above snippet, the media property has two components.

1. A media type – screen and
2. The query enclosed within the parenthesis that contains a particular media feature (max-device-width) to inspect the target value.

In working, the script inspects the maximum device width and if it is less than 480px, say you are viewing it on an iPhone the m6-i-style.css is linked and on a normal device the stylesheet is ignored all together.

This is not the boundary. You can even create compound queries for linking CSS by using and for joining the parameters. Look at the example below.



Furthermore, you are not limited with implementing the media queries in the links. You can use them as a part of the @media rule or as a part of an @import directive.





The results are more or less the same for both the query types. Whenever the query of the device type is matched, the style or the CSS is linked. Based on the usage you can choose the best method. I would suggest you use the first method for linking CSS as a whole. Using the @media and @import rule will be very useful in customizing the image sizes for specific devices. And that the basics with which you can build really extra-ordinary responsive websites.

Flexible images and media queries using CSS is the way forward in constructing responsive websites that are suitable for cross platform rendering. As designers you should be looking to create attractive, elegant, light weight and responsive pages to attract audiences from all platforms, especially mobile surfers. Take it further, try out image queries and flexible images in your Windows Web Hosting account today!

We all know Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 is the latest Integration Development Environment (IDE) from Microsoft. But the question arises. Why should I switch over to VS 12, when I am very much comfortable with VS 2010 or 2008? This is a question that comes out from most techies. Most of us get used to an environment and when a new one comes we often think to switch over to it. Even I was in such a dilemma. I thought that I will give a try, and Visual Studio 2012 just amazed me. Here is what I experienced, the five features that will compel you to switch over to VS 12.

1. The All new Look and Feel

From the moment you open the new IDE, you will see changes. Unlike like the transformation from VS 08 to 10, in VS 12 the entire interface has been redesigned. Though initially you feel a bit uncomfortable with the new appearance, trust me, it’s just a bit of neophobia. As the day progresses, the elegant design, the cool transition effects and well organized tool placements are bound to make you like it. It is redesigned to streamline workflows and provide easy to access tools for everyday use. And don’t forget, you can easily customize the work area to per your liking. In the all new IDE the tool bars are simplified, tab clutter reduced, and you now have new, faster ways to find code. All of this makes it easier to navigate your application and work the way you like.

2. It is Ready for Windows 8

The release of Windows 8 has changed things drastically. Techies around the world are striving hard to explore the rich market of the new Tile Template Windows 8. To explore such a market, a versatile tool is a must. That is what exactly VS 12 is. VS 12 delivers new templates, designers, and testing and debugging tools – everything you need to build addictive applications in as little time as possible. At the same time, Blend for Visual Studio gives you a visual toolkit for taking full advantage of the new and beautiful Windows 8 interface. The best part is you can easily reach the customer base with the widely available Windows Store Distribution Channel.

3. Upgraded Web Development Environment

I am sure that you use Visual Studio not just for application development. Web development is a very important aspect and VS 12 greatly enhances the Web Development Environment. It is bundled with new templates, better publishing tools, and full support for emerging standards, like HTML5 and CSS3, as well as the latest advances in ASP.NET. Another cool feature is that you can easily debug the page that you’re coding, right in the IDE with the all new Page Inspector. Moreover, the new VS 12 Web Development Environment supports mobile app development too. With ASP.NET and VS 12, you can now create applications with controls that optimize for phones, tablets, and other small screens.

4. It is Cloud Ready and Up for Serious Business

The new VS 12 offers features to tailor applications that are ready for the cloud. You can create applications with rich threading and virtualization features. Not just that, it is ready for serious business. VS 12 have major improvements for SharePoint with new design, templates and deployment options. You can seamlessly collaborate with your team and develop feature rich applications and website making use of the upgraded Application Life-cycle Management for SharePoint like performance profiling, unit testing and IntelliTrace.

5. It has a flexible and Solid ALM

Never again you will have to depend on third party tools for scheduling time, roles and managing you project. As your project grows, you need to have a tool that helps your team collaborate, work faster and smarter. That is where the new solid ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) for VS 12 scores. With the new ALM tool you can easily schedule roles, tasks, time and milestones. With the easy to use interface you can visibly track your projects progress.

I am sure by now, you too will want to try out Visual Studio 2012 to explore the world of features that it offers and reap it benefits. It is surely one of the biggest releases from Microsoft. When ideas are of a premium and speed is of the essence the all new Visual Studio 2012 is the best choice.

Often it is necessary to display your data graphically. Data like cost comparison reports, employee satisfaction ratio or any kind of analysis look better when displayed as a graph. When the data is static, your work is somewhat easy. You can create a chart locally and post it as an image to your website. And remember, even this works only when you have a very low number of graphs to display. What if you have to generate graphs dynamically? Say, your analysis team conducts a survey and feed the data into the database every week, or you have written scripts to automatically collect data and feed it into your DB? When this is the case, you surely have to create graphs programmatically. For dynamic graph creation you can use Google Graphs or the Chart Control Object in APS.NET. Though Google charts are comparatively easy to deploy, think of the unnecessary bandwidth you’ll have to waste sending tables and receiving the graph not to mention possibly privacy issues. And what if you’re tables are large or your data is sensitive. So I’d suggest using the Chart Control that is bundled with ASP.NET is much better. You bandwidth is saved and your precious data will be safe.

Deploying the Chart control is pretty simple. I have included snippets and snapshots wherever necessary to make your work simple. After you read this article fully, you should be able to deploy good looking charts for your data.

Let’s get going. Take an example of a Spline chart. My data consists of a date and a corresponding value for each date. The data resides in my database, so on click, my chart control will have to fetch the data dynamically for a given date range and prepare a chart. Let’s see how to go about deploying this chart for this data in an ASPX page.

Open an ASP.NET web application in Visual Studio. Here I am using C# as the language in Visual Studio 2010. Once you have a web application created, create a new ASPX page by selecting FileNewFile… Select C# under the Web Menu in the left pane and click on Web Form. Now click OK. A new ASPX page will be created.

Note: The chart control is bundled with ASP.NET from version 4.0 onwards. If you are using a previous version, you can download the chart control separately and install it. You can download Microsoft Chart Control here.

Now you should select the design view and insert a Chart Control object from the Toolbox. To select the type, right click on the chart control and select the type of chart you wish. Using this menu, you can also do a static data binding for the charts. However, in this article we will look into dynamic data binding because static binding will be a piece of cake. Next you should concentrate on selecting the right dataset. Make sure that the dataset satisfies the requirement of the chart. In my example for a spline chart, I need two fields. One is the X parameter and the other is the Y parameter. Here I execute a query to fetch two data fields, one is date and the other is a metric. You have to bind this table to the chart. Also make sure that the X parameter and Y parameter names are same as the names you have set in the database. The snippet for fetching the data and binding it with the chart is as follows.

Now you chart is ready to be up and running. But let me help you out with a few errors that you may encounter. First check whether you have System.Web.DataVisualization.dll in the bin folder. Else you’ll get the following error.

Sometimes you will not have privileges to the home folder of the server. In that case create a bin folder in your working directory and place the dll in it. Rarely you will encounter the following error.

Now this is confusing. You have your dll placed in the right folder and still it points out that the dll is missing. This is because you have used the latest version (.NET Framework 4.5) in your system and the server is still running on an older version. So don’t worry. Raise a ticket to your admin to upgrade to the latest version of .NET framework. Once that is done, you have crossed 80% of the hurdles. The last error you may encounter is displayed below.

This is because you do not have permission to the tmp folder on the server. This is because by default, the chart is saved as an image in the tmp folder and then is displayed in your web page. You can solve this in two ways. Either acquire privileges for the tmp folder. Else the easy way is to change the image location property to HTML header. Now your chart will render without saving it in a temporary location as an image. So techies, that’s it. Your chart will render beautifully on your webpage. You can manipulate the data input to the chart by changing the select query and your chart will change accordingly.

Here is a sample chart that I created with the above snippet and hosted on M6.NET Windows Web Hosting

Well, most of us use Dropbox to sync our folders. However, a problem that you will encounter is that, only folders placed in the Dropbox folder will be synced. What if, you wish to sync, say your browser profiles, a saved game status or a music library? The only way to do it is you will have to make a copy manually and place it inside the Dropbox folder. And again, what if your folder is updated? Worse, you will have to do this all again. This can make your file management difficult. The fact is we wish all our important files and folder can be synced in Dropbox. How cool would it be, if there is a way to sync any folder with DropBox right from the place it is with a couple of clicks?

That is exactly what this cool new software, Folder Sync App offers. The software allows you to sync any folder with Dropbox with ease. All you have to do is, right click the folder that you wish to sync and click ‘Sync with Dropbox’. The application will automatically place this folder inside the Dropbox folder and create a symbolic link pointing to that folder in this location. And don’t worry, un-syncing is equally simple. Just right click the symbolic link and select ‘Unsync with Dropbox’. The app will do the rest. It will automatically remove the symbolic link and place the original folder back. Amazing isn’t it?

Want to know what the app actually does in a Sync action? As soon as you click on ‘Sync with Dropbox’, the app,

• Moves the folder you click to Dropbox. Creates a symbolic link at that location pointing to the corresponding folder inside Dropbox.
• So you can access the same folder from two locations. This is particularly useful when you are syncing folders like music library, browser profiles etc., Normally when you sync, you have to move the files into the Dropbox folder. So applications making use of these folders will throw a ‘File not Found’ error. You will not face problems like these while using Folder Sync App.
• Symbolic links are created using the junction utility that is automatically installed with the app.
• If a folder with the same name already exists in your Dropbox, then it asks if it should merge & overwrite. If you do not wish to merge, it moves the folder to Dropbox with a modified name.
• The only thing that you have to take care of is while syncing, do ensure that no file in the folder is locked by any process.

You will never again worry about syncing folders with Dropbox. Secure sync and backup any folder on your PC with Dropbox whilst keeping your folder structures intact using Dropbox Folder Sync.

Read more articles like these here. M6.Net is the pioneer of Windows Web Hosting for than 15 years.

As you all know, ASP.NET is one of the most used server-side Web Application framework used for creation of dynamic Web Pages. We all use ASP.NET almost on a daily basis for our Windows Hosting Needs. So I thought, today I’ll share the evolution of ASP.NET. A short blog that narrates how a limited feature ASP.NET 1.0 released in 2002 has become a mature, powerful and versatile framework with the latest ASP.NET 4.5 that was released in 2012. When I talk about the features and releases of ASP.NET, let me remind you that it also includes the .NET framework as it is tightly associated with ASP.NET.
The first version of ASP.NET, the ASP.NET version 1.0 was released during mid of January 2002 along with .NET framework. It was released as the successor to the ASP page server side scripting technology. With ASP.NET, Microsoft brought about a revolution in Web Programming. The coders and developers around the world were excited and welcomed it with open hands. It was mainly because of its programming language compatibility. Running on a Common Language Runtime(CLR), ASP.NET allowed programmers the flexibility to design dynamic web pages in any .NET supported languages. Let me tell you, it was surely a gigantic breakthrough. Version 1.0 of ASP.NET allowed programmers to use Object-oriented Web application development supporting inheritance, polymorphism and other standard OOP features. Like Windows Programming, it allowed the developers to make use of DLL class libraries and other features of the Web server to build more robust and dynamic applications that perform advanced tasks like exception handling, validation etc., rather than simply rendering HTML.
Shortly after the first release, on 24th of April 2003, version 1.1 was released. It added features like Mobile Controls and Automatic Input validation to version 1.0. This version was considered only as an upgrade to the previous version.
Two years later on 7th November 2005, Microsoft once again hit the market with ASP.NET version 2.0. It was code named Whidbey. Unlike the previous version, this wasn’t just an upgrade. The techies at Microsoft had embedded wonders into this release. For the developers around the planet it was a feast. ASP.NET 2.0 had new data controls like grid view, form view and details view. It accepted data sources with simple built in objects like SqlDataSource, ObjectDataSource, XmlDataSource controls. It also had awesome navigation controls, master pages, login controls, themes, skins, web parts, personalization services and full pre-compilation support. Like I mentioned earlier, it was a real boon for programmers. With this release, projects developed with .Net became robust and powerful. The techies found it extremely easy to use ASP.NET mainly because of its native integration with Visual Studio and the user friendly design.
After a year, on 21th November 2006, Microsoft released the next version of ASP.NET. It was named ASP.NET 3.0. This release further eased the way of programming by appending features like Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and Windows Communication Foundation which can use ASP.NET to host services. It also supported Windows CardSpace which uses ASP.NET for login roles.
The next version, ASP.NET 3.5 was released as two parts. Initially ASP.NET 3.5 was released on November 19th, 2007 along with Visual Studio 2008. It supported better datatypes like ListView and DataPager. It also included ASP.NET AJAX as part of the framework. Now programmers were able to make use of AJAX too, along with the robust features of ASP.NET. Support for HTTP pipelining and syndication feeds, WCF support for RSS, JSON, POX and Partial Trust were also introduced along with this release. Later on 11th August 2008, Service Pack 1 for ASP.NET 3.5 was released. It had a kitty of attractive features. The service pack included features like,
• Incorporation of ASP.NET Dynamic Data
• Support for controlling browser history in an ASP.NET AJAX application
• Ability to combine multiple JavaScript files into one file for more efficient downloading
• New namespaces System.Web.Abstractions and System.Web.Routing
With ASP.NET 4.0 Microsoft proved its mightiness. The release was on 12th of April, 2010 along with .NET 4.0. This version was not an ordinary release. It was stuffed with new features and enhancements that it stunned the developer community. Features such as output cache extensibility, session state compression, view state mode for individual control, Page.MetaKeyword and Page.MetaDescription properties, Response.RedirectPermanent method were all introduced with ASP.NET 4.0. With this release one could even control routing in ASP.NET and also auto-start ASP.NET applications. Also the Microsoft AJAX Libraries were enhanced with this release.
Two years later, along with the release of Windows Server 2012 for Windows 8 and Visual Studio 2012, on 15th of August, 2012 ASP.NET 4.5 was released. And let me tell you, it was a magic show from Microsoft again. It took the capabilities of Web Programming to a new plane with powerful AJAX support. It was cloud ready and future proof. Some of the specialties that ASP.NET 4.5 feature are,
• Support for unobtrusive JavaScript in client-side validation scripts.
• Improvisation in page performance by bundling and minification of Client scripts.
• Support for Web Sockets protocol.
• Support for asynchronous modules and handlers.
• Asynchronous support for writing HTTP Requests and Responses.
• Content distribution network (CDN) fallback is supported in the ScriptManager control.
If you’d like to know in detail about the features and capabilities of ASP.NET 4.5 then you can find it here.

ASP.NET Web Hosting package has matured to be a powerful and versatile component with ASP.NET 4.5 from ASP.NET 1.0. ASP.NET has become an unavoidable component of Web programming. With the features and robustness it offers, developers around the globe make use of ASP.NET and the .NET Framework with Visual Studio to create robust, efficient and stylish web sites. I surely call this combination a terrific trio.

When it comes to a collaboration system, choosing one that is versatile, smart and feature filled is essential. That is the reason why Smarter Mail shines. Smarter Mail Professional is a very powerful and cost-effective Mail and Collaboration server. Its suits any level of business, from an individual proprietor to large corporations and enterprise organizations.

While you consider procuring a mail server, I am sure you agree that an attractive design, an easy to use interface, a stable support and high performance are the most essential features. More often than not, you will find mail servers that have an unbalanced combination of these features. But Smarter Mail Professional 11.x has the best mix. With a gray-scale design that is pleasing and attractive; a user interface that is easy to use for even a new user, 24/7 live support and an un-comparable performance makes Smarter Mail the best choice. Wondering what makes it so unique? Let’s have a look.

• It has a rich webmail interface optimized for desktops, tablets and even phablets.
• Contains a mobile interface ideally suited for smartphones, so you’re never disconnected.
• It has an integrated instant live messaging system to enable hassle free instant communication.
• Full support for collaboration and groupware features (shared contacts, calendars, tasks and notes)
• Supports advanced File storage.
• Has a strong intrusion detection and prevention system, so your intellectual property is never at risk.
• For additional security it has a structured and multi-layered antispam and antivirus protection. The best part is, you don’t have to pay an extra penny for it.

It doesn’t stop here, the cool new release of Smarter Mail 11.x has more features. Here are a few.

• The performance is tremendously increased. The new release offers a highly interactive and responsive interface consuming much less CPU and Memory than Exchange Server.
• With the new release you can easily personalize your webmail and contacts. Now that is really important. Only when you are comfortable with the interface, you can work comfortably. In Smarter Mail 11.x the user is king and you have full control to customize your web mail at ease.
• You needn’t have to worry about the issues with the transformation from IPv4 to IPv6 because Smarter Mail 11.x supports IPv6.
• Never again have a typo error in your mail. The new version has an advanced spell check option with 17 spell check dictionaries.

Not just for users, Smarter Mail 11.x brings a sack of advantages to the admins too. The admins can easily set abuse detection rules, set rules for blocking IP address that exceed a set number of authentication failures over a set of protocols, the ability to delete IP address that no longer exist right from the IP address bindings page and the implementation of the UIDPlus extension for IMAP. The admins can even look into the log files directly from the interface without having to get to the file location in the file system. With all these features I wonder why anyone will chose any other mail server.

Wondering what will be price for such a sophisticated mail and collaboration server? Though the best in the market, Smarter Mail is the cheapest among its competitors. Couldn’t believe it right? Well, look at this cost comparison between SmarterMail Mail Server and Microsoft Exchange Server for implementing 250 mail boxes.

You can clearly see that SmarterMail Mail Server clearly beats its prime competitor, The Microsoft Exchange Server fair and square.

So whether it be an attractive design, a rich responsive interface, high performance, support or cost effectiveness, SmarterMail Mail and Collaboration System tops it all. So think not twice while you decide on a Mail Server for your organization. Wisely make the right choice by choosing SmarterMail 11.x and reap the benefits.

At M6.Net we were one of the original beta testers of the first release of SmarterMail and have offered SmarterMail as part of all our hosting packages since. We always provide the latest SMarterMail version with unlimited domains and unlimited mailboxes in all our shared hosting plans. We also run Commtouch antispam module with SmarterMail, wiping out 95% of spam. With any M6.Net Hosting plan, running on cloud infrastructure, you can take advantage of SmarterMail for your mail and collaboration needs.

Many people get confused over whether to choose Windows or Linux when it comes to the operating system for their web site. The fact is both operating systems have their own advantages and disadvantages. You carefully choose the operating system based on your requirements. When it comes to desktop operating systems, there is no doubt that Windows beats Linux by a clear margin in terms of ease of use, feature set etc. But often when it comes to the server operating system, many get confused. Some say that Linux is better than Windows because of its kernel stability and security while some say Windows is much better than Linux because of the support, feature set and the countless number of applications that it supports. Now that is confusing… Which operating system should you choose? As I wrote earlier, it all depends on your requirements. In this article, lets see which of the two should you choose for Web Hosting and why?

The first question that you should be asking yourself for choosing a platform is, “What kind of website or application am I going to host?” Answering this question will solve the major part of your problem.

If your site is brochure-ware site then Linux servers are ideal. By the term brochure-ware I mean a site that offers the kind of information that in the past might have been provided on paper in the form of brochures, newsletters or data sheets. Brochure-ware sites will offer minimum interaction with the user through enquiry and contact forms and can certainly incorporate online purchasing and other routine e-commerce functions but you cannot expect it to be all that stylish. However if your site incorporates an online searchable database or interactive chat facilities then Windows based servers will be a better bet in most cases. It may cost a few dollars more but you’ll get that back because of the reduced development time and simply better functionality.

Considering you are planning to host applications, if you are planning to use an off the shelf PHP application along with a MySQL database then Linux is the best choice. Linux platforms are ideal for hosting applications written in PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby or CGI scripting with a MySQL backend.

Having said that, the problem with Linux, like I said earlier, it does not support any of the Windows based technologies like ASP or .NET, neither does it support database like MS Access or MSSQL. But most of us look for versatility. We want a place where we can run our PHP scripts on payment gateways with a MySQL backend, at the same time host a beautifully designed ASP or ASPX forms and pages with ActiveX controls and a MSSQL backend. This is where Windows scores high. Windows Hosting is a flexible platform. You may have built a site using PHP and now you will like to move over to the more dynamic ASP.NET environment. But you do not want to throw out your current pages and may wish to slowly migrate across. In this case choosing a Windows platform is by all means a better choice. In a Windows platform you will be easily able to create .NET apps on your desktop and port them onto the Web. Not just that! You can modify the apps created for your desktops to web apps with ease using development environments like Visual Studio from Microsoft.

If you already are developing with .NET app or ASP, then Windows is the only choice. But don’t forget, Windows supports PHP, Perl and MySQL too. So a few PHP pages with a MySQL database, say for your payment gateway, will not be a problem on a Windows Platform.

Let me give you a handy suggestion. If you are planning to deploy an application or website, then I would suggest you have a good discussion with your developers about the languages and databases they are planning to use before choosing the platform to host them. And if you are going to manage your own web server, then I would suggest that you choose a Linux platform because most of the tutorials available in the web, like “Configuring your Web Server” or “Troubleshoot your Web Server”, assume that you are using a Linux platform. Never worry, there are forums and literature that helps you with Windows Web hosting but the majority focus on the more orthodox Linux Servers. Linux being open source means there are a plethora of tools and script available.

Having answered the first question, the next part you is performance, security and cost. Considering performance, you get the best when you use a specific environment. When you want a flexible environment then Windows is the best choice as it gives you the benefit of PHP, MySQL, Perl etc as well as ASP, .Net, Access and SQL Server. Coming to security and cost, Linux with is origin from Unix, a network operating system, has matured steadily and is shipped in many flavors like FreeBSD, Solaris, Ubuntu etc. from different vendors and of course it is open-source. Whereas Windows over the years has grown from a desktop operating system to a server operating system closing the gap in performance, security and flexibility and is shipped by Microsoft with a license for which you have to pay. The truth is that, in both the platforms the respective vendors will roll out updates with security patches and bug fixes. An advantage with Windows over Linux in this respect is that the updates will be delivered a lot more quickly because of the dedicated support that Microsoft offers and trust me, it is worth the money you pay.

All you have to do it determine the type of web site or application you wish to develop and what kind of development environment you feel comfortable in. If you have very specific needs and clear on what language and databases you will use – say PHP and MySQL then Linux is a great choice. If you’re unsure then Windows is a great choice as it gives you all the options to play with – PHP to ASP to .Net as well as all the databases; MySQL, SQL Server and PostgreSQL working closely with your famillar desktop environment.

The all new .NET Framework from Microsoft is a versatile platform that can be used for building apps in Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Server, and Windows Azure. With a motto, “Write Once, Run Anywhere!!” the latest release of .NET Framework 4.5 from Windows aims to break down the walls between its platforms which was a major drawback with its predecessors. No more worries about independent classes and attributes, the framework takes care of it.

The .NET Framework also provides a managed execution environment, simplified development and deployment, and integration with a variety of programming languages, including Visual Basic and Visual C#, all in a single package with hassle free deployment options.

With the Windows Store attracting a growing market audience, .NET Framework allows you to create rich applications for Windows Store using C# and Visual Basic. Not just that. The new .NET 4.5 helps you create Portable Class Library Projects. With the Portable Class Library life as a coder becomes so easy. Never again will you have to worry about common classes and libraries across platforms. Choose the platforms you wish to target, and the framework will do the rest by automatically restricting to the common types and members across those platforms. Now wait, these are just the basic features of this advanced framework. Microsoft has made a major leap forward with this awesome release of .NET 4.5. Lets see what it has to offer.

A major problem that many of us have faced with the previous framework is that it cannot handle arrays larger than 2GB. That’s history now. With the gcAllowVeryLargeObjects element we can easily declare a much bigger array. More happy news for you techies out there, no more worries about undisposed object or breaking your head tuning your code for performance, the .NET 4.5 guarantees better performance in the applications we write with advanced background garbage collection for servers. In addition to that, it enhances the performance in multi-core environments making use of the Background just-in-time (JIT) compilation.

You know that .NET doesn’t just stop with standalone applications. For ages, it has been a major boon for the Web, making web pages stylish, powerful and compact. From a simple web page to a payment gateway, .NET framework provides support. The best part is, now .NET 4.5 supports HTML5 too. Hurray!!! Data binding which was a major problem in the previous versions is also solved with this release. Now you can seamlessly bind data controls directly to data-access methods, and automatically convert user input to and from .NET Framework data types.

Some of the other improvements that is bundled with the new .NET Framework 4.5 is:
• Support for unobtrusive JavaScript in client-side validation scripts.
• Improvisation in page performance by bundling and minification of Client script.
• Support for Web Sockets protocol.
• Support for asynchronous modules and handlers.
• Asynchronous support for writing HTTP Requests and Responses.
• Content distribution network (CDN) fallback is supported in the ScriptManager control.

In short, .NET 4.5 is a major leap ahead and a gift for developers. Clearly overtaking its predecessor .NET 4 with features such as support for many asynchronous features that improves user interaction & performance, an advanced background JIT & garbage collection and seamless IP binding using web sockets, .NET 4.5 Framework is a class apart mainly when one can juice out its features for Web development. Whether you are building an attractive web site, a cool forum or an e-commerce site, .NET 4.5 will be handy and powerful. But don’t forget, it is very critical to choose a Windows Web Hosting Company that has experience in the field of ASP.NET Web Hosting and provides support for .NET 4.5, backing you with prompt support whenever you need.

We at M6.NET, with over 15 years of experience in the field of Windows Web Hosting provide our customers a rich feature filled platform with the latest software and the best support with a dedicated team of MCSE certified technicians 24/7 all year round. All our hosting packages support .NET 4.5 framework and come with many added advantages and the best price in the market.

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