I happened upon the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 Beta today: http://www.microsoft.com/web/downloads/platform.aspx and am very impressed by what I found. Recently I started looking into Ubuntu as a web server for delivering a website I wish to develop, the website would contain forums and wikis etc and Linux seems the ideal platform for web dev due to its native open source support from database engines to application platforms.
Wow is all I can say about the effort from Microsoft on the Web Platform installer, it’s very integrated, I installed Wiki’s and blog sites with a click ‘next’ ‘next’ and ‘finish’, my first surprise was seeing a MySQL installer for a product being promoted with the Microsoft Platform installer. All of my requirements were met by products recommended by the installer and couldn’t be easier to install.
On the linux side I have installed Alfresco and a php based forum site but its just not as integrated.
Over the next several weeks I plan to work out what platform I use to provide a web server for my new business project. Linux or Windows, only one can prevail, licensing costs are only a small part of the price to pay so a server license is almost negligible in the greater scheme of things.
Just as a clarification - Alfresco by itself is a great product and a viable competitor to SharePoint server for many tasks, I tested it to determine whether it could deliver what I require and have the look and feel I desire.
