For starters, it encourages a bad habit: using the Microsoft stack and deploying on Windows.
Unless you are significantly more productive by using this toolset, I'd advise against it. Having said that, most startups fail, so, chances are using Windows will not be a problem 3-5 years down the road.
this is not "a bad habit"
Or, you know, just using the Azure portion of the program and deploying in any language with any database implementation to linux VMs with docker.
- Windows: proprietary, hard(ish?) to scale. BizSpark.
- Linux: Finicky, spend time & money getting it working right. Scales well.
- Apple: Expensive. Nice.
I'm not a startup guy, but I can easily picture a world in which Apple is chosen by the massively-funded, Linux is chosen by the scaling-is-our-business-model, and Windows is chosen by the get-off-the-ground-first lean (curiously enough) thanks to BizSpark.
FWIW my terminal is Windows, and my datacenter is *nix.
I actually like a lot of things when it comes to windows, and dislike a lot with Linux. That said, I'm still targeting Linux for next-generation app development... When you need to have 3-5 servers for your data and application layers, the price of MS's stack is a bigger difference here.
It really depends on your situation though.. if you have a need for small LOB apps, or even a SaaS that can work in Azure deployments, using BizSpark and sticking to MS isn't a bad option.
Apple may be used by the developers, but depending on your business need, you really aren't deploying to apple servers.
Not if you know what you are doing. I find it easier, cheaper and faster to deploy Linux applications than it is to boot a Windows server, apply updates, secure it and install your application (and keep it updated). I know it can all be done - and automated to a large extent - with Microsoft admin tools, but it still takes longer than spinning up a new Debian, Ubuntu or CentOS server and doing the same steps. The ecosystem is just not there. And since you don't need to worry about licensing costs, you can deploy as many machines as you need and make them role-specific, lighter and individually simpler.
> - Apple: Expensive. Nice.
Expensive is relative. My previous MacBook was still solid after five years. No Lenovo/Dell/HP has that kind of build quality at a lower price and the ones that have that build are uglier and more expensive than their Apple counterparts. I agree if you need a fingerprint or smartcard reader, you can't go with Apple, but those are specific needs. Spreading the cost of a Mac over its useful life makes it look more attractive than a PC. Plus, it has a very developer-friendly OS if you are not developing for Windows.
Also, Apple makes desktop machines. My comment was mostly about BizSpark's server side.