servicedonline-blog

[servicedonline-blog]

FACEBOOK IS TIGHTENING ITS GRIP ON INSTAGRAM

[servicedonline-blog]

Facebook is tightening its grip on Instagram

Facebook is tightening its grip on Instagram

Instagram will soon be without its founders for the first time ever. With CEO Kevin Systrom and CTO Mike Krieger leaving soon, the future of the photo-sharing app will be much more controlled by Facebook executives, which could have big implications for the service.News of the departures sent shockwaves around Silicon Valley, primarily because it was so unexpected. Though it’s common for founders to depart a company after an acquisition, Instagram’s founding duo has long been an exception.

The abrupt nature of the news itself, which broke late Monday night, immediately gave rise to rumors that the resignations had come as the result of some greater falling out with Facebook’s upper management.

Systrom was scheduled to keynote next year’s South by Southwest, and had other speaking engagements lined up for the coming months. What’s more, Instagram only just opened a new San Francisco office, a decision that was driven, at least in part, by Systrom’s desire to cut down on his commute and be closer to his family, according to a Wall Street Journal profile published today (Systrom’s resignation came after the story had gone to press, according to the WSJ.)

Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg, who often pens effusive send-offs for high-ranking execs, issued an unusually brief statement, which was not published on his Facebook page or, notably, his Instagram account.

And while it’s not clear if there was any one cause for the sudden resignations, multiple reports indicate that Systrom and Krieger had grown increasingly uncomfortable with Facebook executives’ involvement, and their efforts to bring the two services closer together. Both Recode and The Wall Street Journal pointed to Facebook’s recent change that removes any reference to Instagram when users share photos from Instagram to their Facebook profile.

What happens next?

What all this means for Instagram, the service, remains to be seen, but it suggests there will be many more changes to come. Most obviously, Instagram will be under new leadership for the first time in its history.

Facebook hasn’t commented publicly on who will replace Systrom as Instagram’s top executive, but most signs suggest it will be the newly installed VP of Product, Adam Mosseri. The exec was formerly in charge of Facebook’s News Feed, and has increasingly become a more public face for the social network. (Mosseri is active on Twitter, where he regularly engages with journalists, and has made an effort to cultivate closer relationships with publishers.) He’s also a trusted lieutenant for Zuckerberg.

There have already been a number of signs that Facebook is eyeing more ways to tie-in with Instagram. The company has been experimenting with putting its notifications inside of Instagram, which has been unpopular with some users. And the app currently has a prominent “open Facebook” prompt.

Without Instagram’s founders to push back, it’s difficult to imagine there won’t be even more Facebook-ification coming to Instagram.

For Facebook, these measures likely feel like necessary steps.

The company is facing more public scrutiny than ever, and mounting distrust from users who are wary of the social network in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The service lost users for the first time in its history last quarter, and its stock still hasn’t recovered from the subsequent crash.

But the last two years have also coincided with the meteoric rise of Instagram, which has grown to more than 1 billion users. The app, which rarely released updates in its first years as part of Facebook, began pumping out new features to boost that growth and engagement.

As things have gotten worse for Facebook, it’s become more and more clear the company is relying on Instagram’s success. The app has managed to remain relatively scandal-free, compared with Facebook, and, unlike Facebook, it remains incredibly popular with teens and younger users.

It’s not surprising that the company would opt to tighten its grip on the photo sharing app at this particular moment. It needs Instagram more than ever before.

[servicedonline-blog]

YOU’LL NOW NEED A SUBSCRIPTION TO GET THE BEST OF MICROSOFT OFFICE

[servicedonline-blog]

YOU’LL NOW NEED A SUBSCRIPTION TO GET THE BEST OF MICROSOFT OFFICE

[servicedonline-blog]

You’ll now need a subscription to get the best of Microsoft Office

Microsoft  released Office 2019 for Windows and macOS this week, the latest version of its regular, non-subscription productivity suite. It’s the kind of Office  that, ten years ago, you would’ve bought in a shrink-wrapped package at Office Depot. But it’s really not the version of Office that Microsoft would like you to buy — or that you probably want to have. That’s because at this point, Office 2019 is basically a limited version that doesn’t include the most interesting new features of its Office 365 subscription counterpart.

“We are really working very hard to position Office 365 in all its flavors — ProPlus for the commercial users — as very different from these versions of Office that have a year number in them,” Microsoft’s corporate VP for Office and Windows Jared Spataro told me. “Office 2019, all the features that we released in it, had previously been released in Office 365. So are our way of talking about the cloud versions of Office 365 is that they’re connected, that this breathes life into them.”

Spataro also noted that Microsoft wants users to remember that the connected Office 365 apps will offer higher productivity because of their cloud connectivity and a higher degree of security. He also argues that these versions deliver a lower total cost of ownership.

[servicedonline-blog]

Roku’s lowest price 4K-ready device was the $70 Roku Streaming Stick+.

[servicedonline-blog]

Roku’s lowest price 4K-ready device was the $70 Roku Streaming Stick+.

[servicedonline-blog]

Roku brings down the cost of 4K streaming with its new Premiere players

Roku brings down the cost of 4K streaming with its new Premiere players

Roku  is expanding its lineup of streaming media players in an attempt to bring down the cost of 4K-ready devices, and plug every hole in the market. The company announced this morning the launch of two new devices, the Roku Premiere and a Walmart exclusive version, the Roku Premiere+.

Previously, Roku’s lowest price 4K-ready device was the $70 Roku Streaming Stick+. Now, through the Premiere line, it offers 4K players that start at $40.

The Premiere ($39.99) sports a quad-core processor, and supports streaming content in HD, 4K, and 4K HDR. It also ships with an HDMI cable, IR remote, works over 802.11 (b/g/n) Wi-Fi, and offers Dolby and DTS Digital Surround pass through over HDMI.

The Premiere+ ($49.99) offers the same, except that it includes Roku’s voice remote with the TV power and volume up and down down buttons.

The Roku Premiere is available for pre-order on Roku.com today, and will also be available at major retailers along with the Ultra in early October. The Roku Premiere+ will be exclusive to Walmart stores and Walmart.com.

Alongside the news of the new devices, Roku also today announced Roku OS software updates – Roku OS 8.2 for Roku TVs and Roku’s wireless speakers, and Roku 9.0 for its other devices.

The 8.2 release adds supports for launching and controlling iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn using voice commands. It has also added other improvements, like boosting voice frequencies for better speech clarity and and automatic volume leveling feature to create uniform sound across content (no more blaring commercials or movies that go from quiet to loud, requiring constant fiddling with the remote control).

Spotify is also returning to Roku with 8.2 with an updated app users can launch with a remote, as well as via Spotify Connect – the feature that lets them control Spotify on a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone but stream through the Roku.

Meanwhile, Roku OS 9.0, which is arriving on Roku streaming players ahed of Roku TVs, also adds Spotify, automatic voice leveling, and a new way to search for free content by voice. (e.g. “show me free comedies” or “free dramas,” etc.)

Roku OS 8.2 is coming to Roku TVs now as a staged rollout that completes in November. Roku OS 9.0 will roll out to streaming players in early November, then hit Roku Tvs in Q1 2019.

In addition, Roku says it will soon add support for controlling its devices through Google Assistant.

Roku’s strategy with its devices it to make sure there’s a model for everyone, whether it’s an entry-level streamer for those just testing the waters, or a premium device for those who want added bells and whistles – like Roku Ultra with its lost remote finder function and extra ports.

The company is now one of the top streaming media device makers on the market, as a result.

[servicedonline-blog]

Facebook is finally ready to find out, starting today with a country-wide test in Colombia of its new Dating feature. It’s centered around an algorithm-powered homescreen of Suggested romantic matches based on everything Facebook knows about you that other apps don’t.

[servicedonline-blog]

INSIDE FACEBOOK DATING, LAUNCHING TODAY FIRST IN COLOMBIA

[servicedonline-blog]

Inside Facebook Dating, launching today first in Colombia

Inside Facebook Dating, launching today first in Colombia

Does deeper knowledge turn out good matches? Facebook is finally able to conclude, beginning nowadays with a country-wide take a look at in Republic of Colombia of its new qualitative analysis feature. It’s focused around associate algorithm-powered homescreen of advised romantic matches supported everything Facebook is aware of concerning you that alternative apps don’t. There’s no swiping and it’s not attempting to seem cool, however Facebookqualitative analysis is acquainted and non-threatening enough to feel accessible to Facebook’s broad array of single users.

Originally announced at F8 in could, Facebook has beat out details like limiting users to expressing interest in an exceedingly most of a hundred folks per day, spotlighting personal queries moreover as photos, and defaulting to point out you friends-of-friends moreover as strangers unless you simply need to check folks with no mutual connections. If the take a look at goes well, expect Facebook to roll qualitative analysis intent on additional countries shortly because the social network pushes its mission to make meaningful connections and also the perception that it are often a force of excellent.

“The goal of the team is to make Facebook simply the best place to start a relationship online” Facebook Dating’s product manager Nathan Sharp told me during an expansive interview about the company’s strategy and how it chose to diverge from the top dating apps. For starters, it’s not trying to compete with Tinder for where you find hookups by swiping through infinite options, but instead beat eHarmony, Hinge, and OKCupid at finding you a life partner. And it’s all about privacy, from its opt-in nature to how it’s almost entirely siloed from Facebook though lives within the same app.

“We wanted to make a product that encouraged people to remember that there are people behind the profiles and the cards that they’re seeing. We wanted a system that emphasizes consideration over impulse. We want you to consider more than that person’s profile photo.”

Though Facebook could surely earn a ton off of Facebook Dating if it gets popular, for now there are no plans to monetize it with ads or premium subscriptions to bonus features. But as Facebook strives to stay relevant beyond the aging News Feed and combat its branding crisis, there are plenty of incentives for it to find us a significant other.

How Facebook Dating Works…

“Dating is something we’ve seen on the platform since the earliest days. We know there are 200 million people who list themselves as single” says Sharp. He’s married himself but says with a laugh that Facebook Dating “is definitely a young and single team.” Back in 2004, online dating still had a sleazy reputation. But now that over a third of U.S. marriages start online, and Facebook has had time to identify the pitfalls stumbled into by other dating apps, it’s ready to pucker up.

The basic flow is that users 18 and up (or the local ‘Adult’ equivalent) will see a notice atop their News Feed inviting them to try Facebook Dating when it comes to their country, and they’ll see a shortcut in their bookmarks menu. For now Facebook Dating is mobile-only, and will is bundled into the social network’s main iOS and Android apps.

They’ll opt in, verify their city using their phone’s location services, and decide whether to add details like a free-form bio, workplace, education, religion, height, and if they have children. Facebook offers non-binary genders and sexual orientations. To fill out their profile, they’ll choose up to a dozen photos they upload, are tagged in, previously posted to Facebook, or cross-posted from Instagram as well as answer up to 20 questions about their personality such as “What does your perfect day look like?” or “What song always makes you sing along? How loud?”

Users can select to filter their matches by distance (up to a maximum radius of 100 kilometers), if they have children, religion, height, and age. They may then browse through the home screen’s Suggested matches list, or they can choose to ‘Unlock’ Events and Groups they’re part of to see people from those who’ve done the same. Anyone you’ve blocked on Facebook won’t show up, though unfriended exs might. To see the next person, they either have to say they’re not interested, or choose a photo or question from the person’s profile and send them a message related to it (or at least they’re supposed to), and afterwards the sender can’t see the recipient any more.

The text and emoji-only messages go through a special Facebook Dating chat section, not Messenger, and land in the recipient’s Interested tab with no read receipts. If they reply, the chat moves to both people’s Conversations tab. From there they can decide to connect elsewhere online or meet up in person.

Sharp admits that “The moment you try to control the system you may have some unexpected behaviors occur there”. Facebook thought ahead so you can’t message photos (dick pics), you’re supposed to tie your message to a piece of their content (fewer generic pick-up lines), and you can’t follow up with people who don’t respond to you (stalking). But the company plans to stay vigilant in case unexpected forms of abuse or privacy issues emerge. Overall, Facebook managed to pull off Dating without any glaring privacy snafus or other obvious missteps.

…And Why

Starting today, users in Colombia will be able to create a Facebook Dating profile, but the company won’t start serving matches until there are enough sign ups. Sharp tells me “we don’t expect it to take months.” But why Colombia? He says it’s because much of South America has culturally accepted online dating, it has a sizable population of 30 million monthly active Facebook users, and the social network can track data out of a few discrete metropolitan areas.

It also likely limits the prying eyes of journalists hunting for Facebook policy or privacy screw-ups, and eliminates the risk of disrupting its advertising in more lucrative markets like the U.S. It’s hard to forget that Facebook screwed up news consumption in Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Slovakia, Serbia, Guatemala and Cambodia last year by banishing all news publishers to a separate feed — effectively depriving the populations of important information. There are consequences to its experiments.

There are a lot of other ‘whys’ to how Facebook Dating was built. Sharp ran me through the decision making process his team undertook to turn Facebook Dating from a concept into a concrete product. Here I’ll run through its rules and features while explaining the philosophy behind them:

Meaningful relationships not one-night-stands, because “meaningful” is Facebook’s new watchword as it enters the ‘Time Well Spent’ era, and the company has the deep biographical and interest data to find you matches you’ll want to wake up next to each day, not just go to bed with.

Opt-in not automatic enrollment, because “not everyone who’s single wants to date, not everyone who wants to date wants to date online, and not everyone who dates online wants to date on Facebook” says Sharp in a moment of humility.

Within Facebook not a new app, because it lowers the barrier to behavior that’s already hard enough for some people, and it can only achieve its mission if people actually use it.

Friends-of-friends and strangers not friends, because many people’s biggest fear is “are my friends and family going to see this?” says Sharp. People who are already friends don’t need help meeting and may already know if they want to date each other.

A new profile not your same one, because some people might want to share a different side of themselves or might not publicly disclose their true sexual orientation. The only info ported into Facebook Dating is your first name and age.

Message and response not both people swiped right, because since Facebook wants you to be deliberate about who you show interest in, you have to send one message and hope to hear back. There’s no infinite right-swiping and then waiting to get matched or messaged. “It puts the power in the responder” Sharp says.

Profiles and chat are separate not part of Facebook, because it doesn’t want to scare users about privacy slip-ups, and doesn’t want people to pollute the main Facebook experience soliciting dates

Real age and location not self-described, because Facebook wants to prevent catfishing as well as users contacting matches in distant cities who they’ll never meet.

Matches through Events and Groups not randos, because a photo isn’t enough for choosing a life partner, interest overlaps are key to compatibility, and they give people ready-made happenings to use as dates.

A prototype of Facebook Dating’s onboarding flow

The end result is an online dating product that maximizes convenience, both in where it’s available and how much hunting you have to do by yourself. It’s distinctly one-size-fits-all to the point that it risks being seen as universally embarrassing. Luckily only other Dating users can tell if you’re on it and there’s no way to search for someone specific, but there’s still the threat of humiliating screenshots surfacing. It will be fascinating to see how Facebook Dating’s marketing strategy and style develops.

Facebook’s real advantage in this market will be its near-bottomless trove of personal data about all of us. It could analyze trends in characteristics of people who list themselves in a relationship together or what kinds of people respond to what kinds of people’s friend requests or messages. For matching, it could pair people who check in to similar locations or whose GPS paths cross, singles who Like similar bands or restaurants, or those who watch the same kinds of viral videos or share links from the same news outlet. Apps like Tinder can only scratch the surface with partnerships like its one with Foursquare to power its new Places matches. Turning all this info into insights about who’d like who will be a massive challenge for Facebook’s data scientists.

The big question remains how far Facebook will go to making Dating a hit. The feature could live or die by whether Facebook is willing to constantly nag its single users to sign-up. Without the gamification of swiping for fun, Facebook Dating will have to rely on its utility. The company is in a precarious time for its brand, and may have trouble getting people to trust it with an even more sensitive part of their lives.

“As all the events of the past year have unfolded, it’s only underscored the importance of privacy” Sharp concludes. No one wants their dating profile ending up Cambridge Analytica’d. But if analyzing your every Like and link gives Facebook uncanny matching accuracy, word could travel fast if it’s how people find their soul-mates.

[servicedonline-blog]

MOZILLA’S FIREFOX REALITY WEB BROWSER IS NOW AVAILABLE

[servicedonline-blog]

MOZILLA’S FIREFOX REALITY WEB BROWSER IS NOW AVAILABLE

Mozilla’s Firefox Reality web browser is now available

Mozilla’s vision of a VR-first applications programme is prepared for customers to transfer and choose.

Firefox Reality may be a browser designed entirely for computer game. whereas you will have examine desktop Firefox or Chrome adding WebVR support, Firefox Reality may be a applications programme that you simply really use entirely within a VR telephone receiver. you’ll be able to visit URLs, search things and otherwise browse the second and 3D web inside the new browser all while not moving a mouse, simply your VR hand controller.

Firefox Reality is available on the Oculus, Viveport and Daydream platforms and is optimized to run on the latest standalone mobile headsets like the Oculus Go and Lenovo Mirage Solo.

This is version 1.0 and the company is still finding its way through some usage questions and issues. It’s VR after all, so perfection is hardly the standard to chase. Being experimental may mean some wonkiness in the UX, but it also could mean giving users upon something that works in a really unique way.

The browser’s first iteration seems to have some cool features like voice search to help users avoid punching in text on a controller character-by-character.

Mozilla has put a lot of effort into the WebVR standard that a good deal of VR developers have grown familiar with.

The web is a pretty natural fit for VR. It’s understandable but unfortunate that so much of the content available in virtual reality has gotten organized in these big stores across each platform that requires you to sign-in, download and launch from your library. While this model certainly has plenty of advantages to the stakeholders and developers, users might have an easier go if some of the simpler content built for today’s VR headsets were built for WebVR.

It’s clear that plenty of things need to be rethought for the web inside VR. There’s obviously far more 2D web content available right now, but it’ll be interesting to see how much 3D models or live rendered virtual environments grow to become a part of the way sites operate as browser owners like Mozilla, Google and Apple begin heavily pushing their AR/VR plays.

[servicedonline-blog]

GOOGLE’S PARENTAL CONTROL SOFTWARE FAMILY LINK EXPANDS TO TEENS

GOOGLE’S PARENTAL CONTROL SOFTWARE FAMILY LINK EXPANDS TO TEENS

Google’s parental control software for mobile devices, Family Link, will now help parents of teenagers, too. The company announced this morning the addition of new features aimed at parents of children over the age of 13. Perhaps the most controversial choice Google has made with this expansion is that teens can choose to turn off supervision via the software. While this does send an alert to parents, it’s a decidedly odd choice.

After all, if parents are planning on controlling smartphone use through Family Link – which lets them do things like manage and track screen time, view the location of the device, or control which apps are able to be installed, for example – it seems that parent and child would have already had a conversation about the topic.

And while it’s a nice gesture to ask teens to give consent to monitoring, it’s a hollow one – teens, after all, are still children, and parents likely bought them their device and are paying the phone bill. Parents at this point should have already established that using a phone is a privilege, not a right, and that there are ground rules, as well as what those rules are.

Parents should have had the conversation about how usage and location is tracked, and discussed what sort of content should or should not be viewed and shared on the teens’ phone. Allowing the kid to just “opt out” should not be how that conversation starts.

Plus, you can’t really argue that teens could somehow be surreptitiously monitored by parents, given that parents are approving their app downloads and setting screen time limits, among other things, if on Family Link. They must have some awareness there’s a control mechanism in place.

The software’s support for teens rolls out this week worldwide, Google says, as part of Family Link’s global expansion. The applicable age for a teen varies by country, but in the U.S. it’s 13. The app will also be available for Chromebook devices. And soon, parents will be able to manage Family Link devices through Google Assistant voice commands, too.

[servicedonline-blog]

The best Windows hosting services of 2018

The best Windows hosting services of 2018

Most web hosting packages run on Linux servers, and it’s easy to see why: the operating system is fast, reliable, secure and free, with an impressive software ecosystem that includes some of the best web applications around.

For all these benefits, Linux won’t be the right setup for everyone. If your site is based on Microsoft technologies like ASP.NET or .NET, or you’re intending to run Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server or some other Microsoft stack product, you’ll need to choose a Windows plan.

Opting for Windows hosting doesn’t restrict you to Microsoft products. Most plans offer one-click easy installation of popular apps like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, phpBB and more.

There’s no cPanel, but something similar (like Plesk) will make it easy to view your website status, create email accounts, tweak settings and generally manage your plan.

Select a VPS or dedicated hosting plan and you’ll also be able to use Remote Desktop to manage the server from its own desktop.

Windows hosting has some issues. You won’t get the same choice of applications as with Linux. There’s less help available for troubleshooting apps like WordPress on the Windows platform. There are Microsoft licence fees to pay, too, so it’s a little more expensive than Linux plans.

Overall, though, if you need to take advantage of Microsoft technologies, Windows hosting can deliver a great service for a surprisingly low price. Read on for five top Windows hosting providers you might want to check out first.

We’ve also rounded up the best overall web hosting services

1. 1&1

High value plans for the Windows hosting newbie

1&1 Windows Web Hosting Basic $0.99 /mth1&1 Windows Web Hosting Plus$4.99/mth1&1 Windows Web Hosting Pro$8.99/mth

VISIT SITE

at 1&1 Internet Inc.

Feature-packed plans

Low prices

Uses Windows Server 2016

Windows hosting has a reputation for being costly, but 1&1’s shared Windows range shows it doesn’t have to be that way.

Prices start at $0.99 (£0.75) a month for the first year, $7.99 (£6) afterwards, yet even the most basic plan is better specified than some of the Linux competition. You get unlimited websites, web space and bandwidth, along with 100 email accounts with 2GB storage each, plus daily backups, 24/7 phone and email support, a free domain and an SSL certificate thrown in.

Windows-specific features include five Microsoft SQL databases of up to 1GB each, ASP.NET 4.7, ASP.NET Ajax and MVC 3, 4 and 5. There’s support for SQL import, SSI and dedicated app pools, and your plan will be running on Windows Server 2016 (many hosts are still using 2012).

Ramping up to the top-of-the-range Pro Windows plan gets you 10 times the allocated RAM, 25 databases, unlimited emails, a dedicated IP, regular malware scanning and an integrated Cloudflare-based CDN. Again, this is good value at only $8.99 (£7) a month for the first year, $14.99 (£11.4) afterwards.

These are shared plans and don’t give you full control over the server, but more flexible VPS and dedicated plans are also available at very low prices, and opting for Windows instead of Linux will cost from an extra $14 (£10) a month.

Factor in the one-month trial and 1&1 could be a sensible choice for novices looking to try out Windows hosting with the minimum of risk.

1&1 Windows Web Hosting for $0.99 per month

2. A2 Hosting

Run ASP.NET, PHP 7, WordPress and more on the same Windows server

Windows Shared Hosting Lite $4.90/mthWindows Shared Hosting Swift $5.88/mthWindows Shared Hosting Turbo $10.78/mth

Speed-boosting CDN and Anycast DNS

Decent prices

PHP 7.x

VISIT SITE

at A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is a capable provider with a huge range of plans covering everything from basic shared products, managed WordPress and email hosting, to reseller plans, cloud VPS and dedicated servers.

A2’s Windows offerings include a capable Swift plan priced at $5.88 (£4.4) a month initially, $11.99 (£9) on renewal. This is a shared product, but a good one, with unlimited websites, subdomains, email addresses, databases and more. Highlights include free site migration, SSD storage as standard, virus scanning, automatic backups, free Let’s Encrypt SSL, Anycast DNS, and Cloudflare Free CDN for a claimed average of 200% faster page loads.

Your site will be hosted on Windows Server 2012, although you can choose Windows Server 2016. Windows Server 2016 debuted many new features – Nano Server, containers, ReFS, Linux Secure Boot support – but you won’t be using these capabilities on a shared hosting plan.

What you do get with the Lite plan is support for an array of current and legacy Microsoft products and standards: ASP.NET 2.x, 3.x and 4.x, classic ASP, .NET Core 2.0, ASP.NET MVC 4 or 5, IIS 8.5 and Silverlight 4 or 5. And if your needs are more cross-platform, there’s PHP 5.6, 7.0, 7.1 or 7.2 support, phpMyAdmin, and one-click installers for PrestaShop, WordPress, Drupal and more.

If shared hosting isn’t enough, A2 also provides managed Windows VPS plans. These are well specified and priced fairly from $36.29 (£26) a month initially, $54.99 (£39) on renewal, which represents decent value for the features and support you get.

A2 Hosting Windows Shared Hosting for $4.90 per month

3. Hostwinds

Flexible mid-range hosting for cash-strapped power users

Hostwinds Tier One $10.99/mthHostwinds Tier Two $15.99/mthHostwinds Tier Three $19.99/mth

Supports Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016

Excellent tech support

Good value

VISIT SITE

at Hostwinds

While there are plenty of low-cost shared Windows hosting packages around, they’re not the best choice for everyone. We suspect that many users who need a Windows website will also require more speed and functionality than the average customer, and budget hosting may not be good enough.

Hostwinds‘ Windows VPS hosting offers no less than 10 plan configurations, making it much easier to find and purchase the precise level of service you need.

The baseline specification is impressive. Every plan offers free site migrations, SSD storage, and 1Gbps network connectivity (100Mbps is common with other plans). You also get the ability to use Windows Server 2008, 2012 or 2016, along with fast response times for any support issues (30 seconds for chat or phone, 5 minutes for tickets), and 99.999% uptime guaranteed overall.

The starter Tier 1 plan offers relatively limited resources, with one CPU core, 1GB RAM, 30GB disk space and 1TB traffic per month. But it’s also good value at $8.99 (£6.80) a month for the first term, $9.99 (£7.6) on renewal. Those prices are for a monthly billing cycle, too – no lengthy contract required.

Upgrading to a higher tier gets you more power. The mid-range Tier 5 plan offers four CPU cores, 8GB RAM, 150GB disk space and 3TB bandwidth, for example, and is priced at $39.59 (£30.40) a month initially, $43.99 (£33.4) a month afterwards.

Optional extras are reasonably priced. You could add cloud backups for $1 (£0.70) a month, for instance, while spending $5 (£3.60) on basic server monitoring will see Hostwinds watch your system and automatically raise a support ticket if it goes down.

Put it all together and these seem well-designed hosting plans which are powerful, configurable, with excellent support and a generous 60-day money-back guarantee. If basic Windows hosting isn’t enough, Hostwinds could be worth a try.

Hostwinds VPS Hosting for $10.99 per month

4. HostGator

From simple shared plans to full-on dedicated servers

HostGator Hatchling Plan $2.64/mthHostGator Baby Plan $3.78/mthHostGator Business Plan $5.68/mth

Few limits or restrictions

Very low starter prices

Shared plans have outdated software

VISIT SITE

at HostGator.com

Many web hosts provide some level of Windows support, but it’s often limited to a specific set of products, such as dedicated servers. That could become an issue if you decide you’d like to upgrade or downgrade your hosting at a later date, so it makes sense to look for hosts which offer more flexibility.

HostGator has a range of Windows plans covering personal and business-friendly shared hosting, and ranging up to highly-specified dedicated servers with the power to run just about anything.

Most of these products are distinctly short on limits and restrictions. The starter Personal plan may only support one website, but you’re allowed unlimited subdomains, emails, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server databases, and unmetered bandwidth and disk space. It’s priced from $2.64 (£2) a month if you sign up for the three-year plan, $6.95 (£5.3) on renewal, which is cheaper than the equivalent Linux plans of some providers.

There is a potential downside in HostGator’s relatively dated software: Windows Server 2008 R2, IIS 7.5, MSSQL Server 2008 R2 Web Edition, Access Databases 2007, 2010, ASP.NET up to 4.5, PHP 5.2.17 and PHP 5.3. This won’t matter to everyone, but check your technical Windows requirements before you sign up.

HostGator’s dedicated plans are a little more up-to-date, though still lagging behind some of the competition, with Windows Server 2012 R2, IIS 8.5, SQL Server 2014 Express, and ASP.NET from 2.0 up to 4.6.

Headline prices are reasonable, with the Value Server plans starting from $119 (£85) a month, and occasional special deals as low as $79.99 (£57) for legacy servers. Be sure to carefully check the small print, though – you might have to sign up for three years to get these prices, and large introductory discounts mean that you could pay more than double on renewal.

HostGator Web Hosting for $2.64 per month

5. Liquid Web

Top-quality professional hosting

Cloud VPS Hosting 2GB $29.50/mthCloud VPS Hosting 2GB $39.50/mthCloud VPS Hosting 4GB $59.50/mth

Powerful products

Highly configurable

Professional and reliable support

VISIT SITE

at Liquid Web

Liquid Web is a popular provider of high-end professional web hosting services, and its current range includes some very capable Windows products.

The company’s Cloud VPS range hosts your web space across multiple devices to improve performance and scalability, delivering what Liquid Web claims is the “fastest managed VPS hosting on the planet”. All plans include features that might be chargeable extras elsewhere – unlimited sites, Gigabit transfer, Cloudflare CDN, DDoS attack protection, US or EU hosting – and run Windows Server 2012 or 2016, yet you can still get a capable setup for $99 (£71) a month.

Unusual touches include a choice of SQL Server versions. 2014 or 2016 Express come by default and you can add the Web Editions for $35 (£25) a month, but Standard and Enterprise editions are also available if you need them.

For even more control, you could opt for one of Liquid Web’s Private Cloud Servers. These give you all the power of a Cloud Dedicated Server, but also allow for creating, managing and using custom VPS instances (separate virtual servers). You could set up a Windows VPS to run your ASP.NET site, for instance, but also create a Linux VPS instance to run WordPress, another for PrestaShop, maybe a third as a Windows development environment – it’s up to you.

Despite all this power, Private Cloud Servers are reasonably priced, starting from only $115 (£87) a month. Even better, there’s no long-term contract required, and no leap in costs after an initial discount expires.

Liquid Web may charge a Windows licence fee on top of that, but you’ll only pay once per Cloud Server. This allows you to create as many Windows-based VPS instances as you need, at no extra cost.

Interestingly, if you remove all Windows instances then the licence fee will no longer be charged, a handy money-saver for users who only need Windows support occasionally.

Whatever product you choose can be fully managed by Liquid Web’s excellent support team, another company highlight. The firm doesn’t just promise to keep your site up and running, there’s a commitment with a 100% uptime SLA (service level agreement), a strong sign of confidence in its services that you rarely see elsewhere.

Liquid Web Cloud VPS Hosting for $29.50 per month