by Kevin Watson

Created on: June 01, 2008

Why use a Windows PC for web design? Five reasons: 1) Internet Explorer, 2) Visual Studio.NET, 3) Adobe Photoshop 64 bit, 4) lower price and 5) additional software. Each of these items are unique to Microsoft Windows.

Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7 have a combined market share of over 52%, with Firefox consuming another 39% of the market, according to April 2008 data from http://w3schools.com. In other words, during the month of April 2008, over 91% of people who browse the web use either Internet Explorer or Firefox, both of which are available in Windows. While your website design should not be browser-dependent, when designed for users of Internet Explorer and Firefox, it should meet the needs of 91% of your audience.

Visual Studio.NET is a tool that is used by web designers who are not only designing 1) the front end of a website, but may also write 2) the logic that provides functionality to the website, and 3) the database where content and user data is stored. Visual Studio.NET provides a set of tools that not only allows a single user to design all three parts of a complex website, but to allow that user to collaborate with others on the same website project.
Adobe Photoshop 64 bit is the next version of Photoshop that front-end web designers will use to create web graphics. The 64 bit version will allow users to manipulate larger graphics with shorter processing times. The 64 bit version of Photoshop will be available exclusively for Windows Vista 64 bit.

Price should also weigh in your decision to buy a Windows PC. PCs are available from a wide variety of vendors, the competition helps keep the costs of hardware down. The cost of a robust Hewlett-Packard desktop PC (model a6414f with a 22 inch LCD monitor and a 3.0 GHz processor) would cost just over $700, while a comparable iMac would cost about $2,200 (model MB324LL/A with a 20 inch LCD monitor and a 2.66 GHz processor).

PCs have always been known for the vast amounts of free and paid software. Professional web designers will tell you that they have a virtual tool belt of software that they use to do their job. Many of these pieces of software are essential to their daily work. Items in their tool belts include software that may only be available on a PC.

There are many more compelling reasons to use a PC for web design. Some of those reasons were presented here. Do your research, and you will be compelled to purchase a PC.

Learn more about this author, Kevin Watson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.