If you know anything about Mambo, you’ll know that the core developers that created it have branched off from the main body of Mambo, due mostly to political reasons, and are now working on “Joomla” instead of Mambo.
For the most part, I think that of the two, Joomla will be the one to keep up with, and so I have upgraded my own test installations to run Joomla. Most components and plug ins will still run in both, and are likely to also be upgraded to work with Joomla.
But this isn’t the point I am wanting to make, it’s all a bit by the bye! I have been doing increasing work with both Mamob and Joomla templates, both as installation and as design. One of the most cohesive sites that I have done is for cbp-uk which also involved setting up an eCommerce section of the site.
One of the things I like about Joomla is the ease of templating. It’s hugely versatile, and means that a site can be run by Joomla and yet still be totally unique. While there are hundreds of Joomla (and Mambo) sites out there that have used the default templates, or popular public templates, it’s not necessary for anyone to even realise that Joomla is the site’s engine, or even that there is a CMS system behind it.
In case you’re wondering, this site is not run on Joomla. It’s not a hugely dynamic site in terms of interaction and community. Joomla could handle it very well indeed, even though it’s small, but I’ve used Moveabletype for a long time now, and that’s another CMS that I truly love. Moveabletype is a glorified blogger, but it’s very powerful, versatile, and above all, a very high standard!