[earlybird]

As most of you know here, Makestation is powered by MyBB. Until recently, it was actually powered by SMF, and then (thankfully) the conversion to much better software took place.

I have used phpBB before for other websites, and I can say that it has become quite outdated. I don't particularly love it as much as I once did, and its lack of a good plugin system is also a bit annoying. I still have to say that it is much better than the most recent versions of vBulliten, but that's not saying much.

What are your thoughts on phpBB?

I've only admined forums on yaBB, so I can't say from an Admin's perspective. The forums I've been a member on have been powered by Vbulletin, Huddler, phpBB, and myBB.
Vbulletin--everybody HATES it, but I Can't seem to find anything wrong with it. I guess it's an issue with a particular version or two or something.
Huddler--I think that platform is AWESOME. User-friendly once you get used to it. But they want only big sites, so you won't find many forums on that one.
phpBB: has always worked for me, but looks bad, aesthetically. Also a little confusing in some cases...
MyBB: Personally, My favorite free software. Works well, looks good, well maintained.