Thanks for your input. I agree, the mold can be broken. Would any of the fundamental differences in the Content Management Systems affect the site's scalability?

I'm looking at developing an online education community based on music. So far, of the content management systems that I have installed, Xoops, Xaraya and Mambo have been my favorites.

Xoops seems to have a very readable code base which from a development standpoint is very desireable. However, I havn't found a great deal of XOOPS themes that break the "mold". Most of the themes that I have seen are a variation of the standard theme used on this site.

IMO Xaraya and Mambo have the edge in the looks department...But from a development standpoint are there any major fundamental differences between these CMS'?

Any users expierienced in developing using any of these CMS'?