Shapefile vs PostGIS

[Carlos Ferreira]

Hello to all,

I wanted some help in defining wich data format to work with in a web
mapping tool. More accurately, I wanted to understand the advantages of
using PostGIS (if any) over using shapefiles.

1: I have installed the package of MapServerForWindows(MS4W) with support
for PostGIS and it seems to me that the server takes more time showing
data recorded in the Postgre/PostGIS database then data recorded in
shapefile. Is this true?

2: Is it faster to make spatial queries through the Postgre/PostGIS
capabilities or make all the queries through the MapServer engine?

3: To the ones using Postgre/PostGIS, tell me please the main advantages
and core limitations you have encountered.

Thank you in advance.

Carlos