Why don't you like Simple Machines Forum? Just curious because if you test it out more, I'm sure you will find that it's pretty easy to configure the settings to your liking.

If you still would like to go with the other forums instead, it's probably a good choice to wait for phpBB 3 stable release to come out.

I have tried my hands on a few forum systems, namely - phpBB, VB, IPB & SMF. The new IPB rules the list, while phpBB is the best of the free ones.

Being Open Source and backed by a huge community, the possibilities with phpBB are endless. While the Gold version of phpBB2 lacks quite a few necessary features, most notably - Subforums and Attachments, you could be rest assured that there is a MOD available for every such feature. The upcoming version 3 of phpBB - Olympus will include most of the lacking features. Although, it has been stated that not all of the features will be included. After all, they are not trying to mimic other systems.

Olympus focuses on improved modularity. While the MODing of phpBB2 is pretty powerful, it does involve significantly high amount of complexity. Traditionally, MODs were installed manually rendering the process extremely time consuming. However, with the introduction of EasyMOD, the inconveniance was greatly reduced. Huge MODs such as Subforum and Attachments leads to growing chance of collision between existing MODs. Olympus aims at resolving this issue by implementing a better modular approach. Coding styles have been altered and it is being said that none of the phpBB2 MODs will work with Olympus. This will hinder the initial spread of Olympus. As the developers start to chip in and start MODing it, Olympus will surely improve on the reputation, some amount of which was lost when the Santy worm which exploited old phpBB installations came to the surface. The worm exploited the security hole by overwriting PHP and HTML pages. Olympus is also aimed at minimizing such vulnerablities.

Other features include, the debuting AJAX @ phpBB. However, the extent of AJAX usage will be limited and it is hinted that AJAX support will not be used for quick replies, perhaps due to security concerns. Adding Custom BBCode was quite difficult as the users had to rely on MODing. With Olympus such custom BBCodes can be added through the admin panel itself, much like what IPB allows. Users can now send Private messages to multiple recipients. Jabber support will allow notification via Instant Messaging. From what I saw of phpBB3 Beta 5, the installation has become much more user-friendly. The control panel seems better organized and the number of settings have increased.

For a wider list of introductory features in phpBB3, check out http://www.freakitude.com/2006/12/28/whats-new-in-phpbb3/

All in all, if you are looking for a free discussion board for your site, there's nothing better than phpBB.

I like phpBB, it's very easy to install for beginners.
Because too many resource and lessons for phpbb you can read on the internet.
Also, there are many free beautiful theme that you can find in the websites. it is not difficult to design by yourself,either.
From install - set up to change beautiful theme, it won't take you long to have your first Forum System.

My Favourite is IPB. I know that there are really expensive, but I think is the best. It has a lot of mods a really useful Admin ACP, and a lot of features to play with.

The most interesant mods I've found for IPB 2.2.x (The newest IPB version) are

* Arcade
* Ibwiki
* Casino
* Ibprobattle (adds new tons of features that lets the users attack others users)
* Custom Pages

You can find all this mods in Invisionize.com

Regards, Jhin

I don't use forums a lot, but I see phpBB a lot so I'm a little biased since I'm more used to it I guess. If no one's said it yet and you don't need anything complex, maybe think about Automattic's BBPress ( http://bbpress.org/ ). I don't know much about it since I'm not a forum owner, but they use it at the wordpress support forums and it seems to be a good choice if you don't need anything beyond what it offers, since others might be kind of bloated. A lot of it would depend on what you need the forum for, what features you need, whether you want it integrated with the rest of your site in some way, if it your whole site, and so on.

Although it's not very popular, I would chose the Simple Machines Forum, there are some many things, that are included, that you would have to just add on for other forums. But I would say that phpbb is easier to install, but the simple machine forum is so worth the trouble of installing.

I myself prefer vBulletin. I have not used it myself but plan on using it. I've seen it on a lot of sites and i beleive it to be a very easy and simple forum system to use. Im not an expert like many of you most likely are, i dont know if any of you have any experience with vBulletin but i could use some opinion on it before i go off buying it just to find out that i dont like it.

Personally, I think that MyBB is the best forum system.

It has many features, mods, themes, and its FREE!!! Its got most of the other systems got! And it hasnt got a security issue like phpbb!!!

Really nice, free reliable forum system!

I am using this system, and would recommend everyone to use this!!!

Thanks

I really like Simple Machines. . . It really is simple enough to install, has enough features preinstalled for you to run a basic community, and has a handy automatic mod installer if you're not too confident editing the source code to add your own mods (I know a couple of people who have found that exceptionally useful when they were trying to build up their own community. . . unfortunately it didn't work out, but that's another story ). . . and best of all, it's totally free.

IPB is great and all but many of its features are frankly unnecessary, and its targetted by hackers far too much for my liking (although in fairness to Invision Power Services, 2.2.x and upwards are significantly more secure than 2.1.x and below)

I like PunBB. fast and lightweight