Forum software comparison

[Valiantheart]

Which forum software would you recommend for a site that is heavily driven by forum interaction between members?

I have searched and read many articles but I'm still not very sure of what I want. Please share your experiences with the various softwares.

I currently run an SMF site. Although I find it sufficient for general use, it doesn't have a good portal system. I have tried Mkportal and Tinyportal but I don't like them.

I'm looking to switch to a forum that can be used with a good CMS system, preferably Drupal.

I have narrowed down my choices to vbulletin, Invision Power Board and phpBB. I'm not too keen about phpBB3 after trying it out. I hope the actual release would be a vast improvement. I'm not too sure about the security of phpBB2, having read about phpBB2 forums being hacked.

vbulletin and IPB should be very good, given that they are paid services. However, I have not used them before so I won't know how well they work from the perspective of the webmasters.

What are your recommendations? Do feel free to recommend other softwares that I might have overlooked/did not considered.

[serverorigin]

Personally, I like IPB over vBulletin as it feels easier to manage....just personal preference, they both are just as capable and have big communities. Module additions maybe a little easier to find/install on vBulletin..