This could be a good progression from CodeIgniter. Not that I have any complaints about CI – but a few of the features I have read in the docs point to what I've been missing. Native ORM, proper encapsulation of Helpers, Views more like objects… PHP5 only though, which rules it out for some stuff at work.

Just spent the evening geeking out and installing a VirtualBox VM of Ubuntu Server 9.10 on my macbook. This article was a great help, as were the really good Ubuntu docs. Ubuntu has definitely been the easiest Linux package to install – and management seems quite a breeze too. I had just got comfortable with CentOS/Redhat… I'm now wondering if I should switch.