I am always baffled when I see companies spend huge amount of money reinventing the wheel in .asp or anything that runs on an IIS server. It’s also unfortunate that a lot of these companies have leaders that really don’t understand the dynamic languages that power the internet and web apps. There are many reasons to avoid using any of Microsoft’s technology, and I believe it’s only appeal is name recognition. That was the reason for using it at the last web company I worked for. “The clients know Microsoft” were his exact words.

Reason #1 SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
I wouldn’t say you are shooting yourself in the foot by using .asp but more like blowing your leg off. A search for “Tampa Web Design” on Google Jan 29, 2010 reveals 1,890,000 results and only 10 will be on the first page of Google. The top two sites were developed using PHP and only one of the top 5 sites was written in asp and overall only 3 of the top 10 websites were using Microsoft technology to run their websites.

Google has announced that speed is a factor in their algorithm and they have since released mod_pagespeed for apache which is an automation of web cache best practices which you could do manually on a Microsoft server but chances are if your web company is using a Microsoft server in the first place they are not going to have an in depth understanding on the technical issues related to search engine optimization

Apache servers which power PHP, Ruby, CGI, etc. serves up 60 percent of all websites on the internet. Microsoft’s IIS comes in a distant secont with 22 percent. Google’s web server which was built from Apache runs 6 percent of sites, mainly only Google websites.

Search engine optimization is so important because it can account for a large amount of traffic up to 90% or more. Building your website is never the hard part part. Getting relevant visitors is a much more in involved task and you need to set yourself up for success in the beginning.

Apple finally trumps Microsoft in market value. Why is that no surprise to us in the tech world. I have long said since vista days that Microsoft had reached it’s peak and is on its slow way out. They just copy other ideas in my opinion. Microsoft Word, Zune, xBox, Retail Stores, etc. In the end I think Google will leapfrog Apple but thats a few years out and a different blog post.

Windows 7 is a decent operating system but Vista left a sour taste in my mouth. One that can never be washed out. I currently use an Apple everyday but I still keep Linux on my P.C. (Linux Mint 9) Before that I used Ubuntu, and honestly there are a few programs mainly Quickbooks that you will miss on a p.c. After not having the hassles of Windows and the long boot up times. Not to mention my personal resentment of Microsoft for releasing the worst web browser ever, IE 6.

And they completely lost the majority share of the smartphone OS market. Most people would avoid a Windows Mobile phone like the plague. Droid Does. There’s an app for that.

Then you have Apple. They make the coolest shit you can buy. Macbook Pros. iMacs. iPhones, pods, pads, etc. All of there products continually evolve to better upgrades, features, capacity etc. They sell them at a premium. They have loyal following to their brand. They have made one of the most historic turnarounds in business history. They always seem to overcome failures and the bad product every now and then. Welcome to the new tech world order!

Your probably asking what the heck is cross browser compatibility. It’s simple what does your website look like on a Mac or a PC in Firefox instead of Internet Explorer (IE). What is Firefox? I am glad you asked. It’s the web browser of choice for tech savvy people who use a PC. It faster and more secure than IE. It’s rather unfortunate that IE is not a standards compliant browser. What does that mean? Well it means if your web developers writes some HTML and CSS to design your website, it should look a certain way. Well thats great in theory but some some reason the people over at Microsoft think they can bend the rules, and this causes some problems. Crappy web developers design sites that look right in IE but break in Firefox or Safari. Good web developers design sites that look right in Firefox and Safari. The best web developers design sites that look right in Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome (Google’s Web Browser), Flock (A browser to manage your social networking sites), Netscape (does anyone use Netscape). So what is the moral of this post? Check out your website across multiple platforms, or a least multiple browsers. Someone with a Mac is going to be annoyed that your website doesn’t look right on their computer, and if they have a Mac they probably have some cash for your service or product. So don’t leave them out! If your website doesn’t look right on a Mac or FF we can fix it for you.