If you heard about Microsoft Oxite CMS, this is the new one, created as a different project to avoid previous developer comments.:
From Press:
Microsoft's open-source CMS platform is (re)born | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=4506
Project Homepage:
http://orchard.codeplex.com
Quote From Press:
The guesses (by me and others) look like they were on target. The “Orchard Project,” which is getting its debut on November 11 at Tech Ed Europe is, indeed, the successor to the Microsoft Oxite content-management system (CMS).
Microsoft made available the first the open-source Oxite CMS bits at the end of 2008. Like Oxite, Orchard will be a free, open-source CMS platform — plus a set of shared components for building ASP.Net applications and extensions. The Orchard code is licensed under an OSI-approved New BSD license.
From the Orchard page on the Microsoft CodePlex code-repository site:
“(T)his core (Orchard) team will use their experience working with ASP.NET and Oxite to deliver a fundamentally new architecture that is the Orchard CMS. We have deliberately chosen to start development, with the guidance and contribution from the community. Over time we expect this project to become a viable successor to Oxite v1 and we know that providing a migration path for users of that existing application will be a high priority.”
The Orchard team includes various ASP.Net developers; two of the principal developers of Oxite, Erik Porter and Nathan Heskew; and Louis DeJardin, the creator of the SparkViewEngine for Model View Controller (MVC).
Despite its origins and team, Microsoft officials are claiming that Orchard is “not a Microsoft project,” according to the Orchard Web page. From the CodePlex page:
“Some of the initial (Orchard) source code and specs are available for review and comment but there is no downloadable release at this time. We encourage interested developers to check out the source code on this site and get involved with the project in these early stages.”
There is no public timetable (so far) for when a test build of Orchard will be out or when a final version will be released.
(Thanks to @kellabyte for the Orchard pointer, via Twitter.)
Update: As one reader (thanks, @karlseguin) noted, Oxite was anything but a big hit with developers, including many of those in Microsoft’s own .Net community. There have been many complaints about Oxite, from the development process, to the scope of the project, to the quality of the code and the way Microsoft explained the concept/product. Perhaps that’s one reason why Microsoft is starting over with a new codename and claiming this is not a Microsoft project…
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Quote From CodePlex Project Page:
About The Orchard Project
Orchard is a free, open source, community-focused project aimed at delivering applications and reusable components on the ASP.NET platform. It will create shared components for building ASP.NET applications and extensions, and specific applications that leverage these components to meet the needs of end-users, scripters, and developers. Additionally, we seek to create partnerships with existing application authors to help them achieve their goals. Orchard is licensed under a New BSD license, which is approved by the OSI.
The intended output of the Orchard project is three-fold:
· Individual .NET-based applications that appeal to end-users , scripters, and developers
· A set of re-usable components that makes it easy to build such applications
· A vibrant community to help define these applications and extensions
In the near term, the Orchard project is focused on delivering a .NET-based CMS application that will allow users to rapidly create content-driven Websites, and an extensibility framework that will allow developers and customizers to provide additional functionality through extensions and themes.
Project Status
Orchard is currently in the initial stage of development. We have chosen to launch the project at this stage in order to invite early participation by the developer community in shaping the project’s direction, and so that we can publicly validate our designs and development approach. Some of the initial source code and specs are available for review and comment but there is no downloadable release at this time. We encourage interested developers to check out the source code on this site and get involved with the project in these early stages.
· Feature roadmap
· Developer information
· Docs and designs/specs
About The Team
The Orchard team is a small group of developers at Microsoft who are passionate about delivering open source solutions on .NET technology. This team is releasing the project on its own; Orchard is not a Microsoft project. The team is primarily composed of ASP.NET developers and has recently grown with the addition of two of the principal developers on Oxite, Erik Porter and Nathan Heskew, as well as Louis DeJardin, a long-time ASP.NET developer, community software advocate, and creator of the SparkViewEngine for MVC.
Together this core team will use their experience working with ASP.NET and Oxite to deliver a fundamentally new architecture that is the Orchard CMS. We have deliberately chosen to start development, with the guidance and contribution from the community. Over time we expect this project to become a viable successor to Oxite v1 and we know that providing a migration path for users of that existing application will be a high priority.
We are working to define our contribution model, so stay tuned for information about how you can contribute and join the project team.
· About us
· Contact us
How To Get Involved
We hope that by engaging with the community in the very early stages of the project that we will be able to shape Orchard into a valuable set of tools and applications for the community. The Orchard team is committed to open community participation and is in the process of working through the details to be able to accept code contributions. We encourage community participation at all levels from general project feedback to bug fixes and patches.
· Check out the code
· Check out the docs
· Find and file a bug
· Propose a feature idea
· Send us feedback
Consider the opportunities…