Anyone who has actually spent much time working on Windows vs. Linux with large files and probably more importantly large numbers of files is aware of how much

Anyone who has actually spent much time working on Windows vs. Linux with large files and probably more importantly large numbers of files is aware of how much more of pain this is on Windows. Theoretical issues aside Windows FS implementations don't hold a candle to Linux performance-wise. As for Mono the last thing I want as a developer is to be investing my time in a language with second rate support. Note that I certainly don't advocate Java for big data either, C++ is the way to go until something better comes along (and I'm not holding my breath).