ablaye, I think it would be more useful to explain in what way cPanel is the better choice?
You're not comparing like for like:
cPanel and Plesk are similar yet different; functionally there is little to choose between them - they are both very popular industry-standard control panels, although cPanel is probably more widespread.
As a provider with experience of both, I would recommend Plesk as it is likely to offer a more stable and secure platform for you. cPanel has certain "features" that cause it to break itself.
I also have a personal preference to Plesk's user interface, but since cPanel can be skinned, you shouldn't have too much difficultly finding providers that are using something much better than cPanel's default interface - so I expect that you would find them both easy to use.
The other issue is Windows or Linux. (There are Plesk versions for both that are near identical to use, and in terms of features).
You will usually find that Windows is more expensive, because there are costs that just don't exist with Linux (e.g. the operating system). It also requires more hardware resources in order to run (just the basic operating system - regardless of actually hosting anything etc.).
In addition to that, there are definitely more providers offering Linux than Windows - more competition means that pricing is more competitive, but beware of trying to find the cheapest provider, because you're looking for value which is rarely the same (the cheapest providers tend to be either very large - usually poor customer service; or very small - usually little technical knowledge, experience, and without 24x7 technical support).
Reasons to consider Windows hosting:
- ASP.NET
- MSSQL server (not usually offered as standard, but perhaps available at additional cost); may also be available with a Linux hosting plan from some providers
They have to be the main reasons - I'm sure some Windows fans could think of more?
I would suggest that if you don't expect that you will need, or know that you don't need, anything listed above then you probably want Linux based hosting.
Some people will argue that Linux is more reliable, stable, secure etc. than Windows, but this is not really the case with the latest breed of Windows server products; Windows can be equally as reliable/stable/secure providing that the provider knows how to manage it - which is of course the same disclaimer that applies to Linux anyway!
HTML, CSS, Flash etc. are all client-side (i.e. the server just needs to send files to the browser - it doesn't need to know how to process them in any special way); you can use these with either Windows or Linux, and any control panel software.
PHP is probably the most popular scripting language - you'll find plenty of open source applications available for you to use, and it's probably one of the easiest scripting languages to learn via the Internet because of the large number of people who can point you in the right direction when you get stuck (plus lots of tutorials, articles etc.). PHP is available on Linux and Windows, but I would recommend using it on Linux where possible because there are a few strange bugs/differences in the Windows version.
There are numerous database engines for Linux - most popular has to be MySQL (also available on Windows), but PostgreSQL is also fairly popular. Both work well and are likely to suit your needs for any future database related upgrade to your website.
I think that explains most of the issues in your decision. Please feel free to ask if you want any more advice - just remember that you're comparing difference technologies (Windows/Linux) AND different control panels (cPanel/Plesk). There are numerous other control panels for both platforms, and there's no reason to think that either of those are the best options for either platform.
Select between Windows/Linux first, then consider which control panel software. If you haven't used any and don't already have a preference, I would suggest that the actual provider is a more important consideration than the control panel - people looking for a specific control panel generally do so because it's the one they're familiar with having used it with a previous host.
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