Explanations aside, it's really a "different strokes for different folks" kind of thing. Explanations in, one my forums run MyBB, along with the Google SEO plugin, Facebook Connect, and a few extra SEO template changes (mostly of the h1, h2, and p varieties), and really, I've gotten everything I wanted to be done. The name, phpBB has turned me off in the past considering they were so feature-laggy, insecure (to be fair on that point, both have since got several security audits so security is almost a non-issue, especially if you backup), and MOD installation has always been a pain. Don't get me wrong, they've improved most of them, but their actual development is slow (don't get me wrong, this was 2007, and MyBB wasn't even better). - Why did it take till November 2009 to even add a basic quick reply feature? MyBB, vBulletin, SMF, and even IPB have had it for years. - So now 3.1 is having a plugin system. Sounds good. MyBB has it too, added five years ago, though, with almost the same functionality. - AutoMOD doesn't cut it. If you get a PHP error, how are you going to know if there's a problem if you can't even disable all your MODs at once? For the longest time, I've considered phpBB to be the Internet Explorer of forum software. Now I've realized a few things. 1.) SMF is easily the slowest now. 2.) That corporate bully Internet Brands has shown what it can due with its "power." My, my. I really hope Xenforo does well. MyBB has come quite a long way. It was considered "new," then it became "the alternative," now it's growing. And how can it not? Support only has gotten greater and greater, and it's going to keep going, especially towards MyBB 2.0.
1.1 is 5 years old and 2.0 is three. Everything there is well out of date. Three years later, 2.0 can't even come out final, their developers don't really seem to be able to get anything done, and Amacythe really screwed the entire project over single-handedly. They used to be good. Then again, those were 2005 standards.
Voted for MyBB. I'm a latecomer to the forum management field and that's why I have experience only with MyBB out of the two. I started with forums a little more than a year ago and then I accumulated that the recommended forum engine is MyBB. My GIMP forum is based on MyBB and all I can tell it's very nice in use. So now after a year I definitely recommend it to others.
Actually SMF 2.0 has been in development since 2005. You can look it up. And yes it's still in beta as RC4. Ridiculous. To me there is no doubt that MyBB is the #1 free open source software. PHPBB doesn't even come close. One of the things MyBB lacked 2 years ago was plugins and themes. Both of which are no longer an issue. There is an abundance of plugin authors and theme developers now.
I never disagreed with you, I just meant that their first public release was three. After all, didn't Ryan start 2.0 till 1.4, right? I suppose we could also agree on phpBB, but it's about time they added a plugin system. Don't know what's so special about it, considering MyBB has had one... for five years now.
Mybb all the way. Not only is it the best free available forum software but it is also very similar to vb in terms of features. Only drawback is the lack of support. You do not have a lot of members to help you out incase you have a problem and you are left scratching your head to figure out how to solve your problems on your own.
I have used both 2 years far. imo, phpBB is better than myBB, after all its all up to your requirements.
But that means nothing (phpBB has around a 70% market share). It's like saying Internet Explorer is the most used browser.