The main objectives factoring into the design of ProMan are:
<ul>
<li>performance
<li>simplicity
<li>reliability
<li>adaptibility
<li>portability
<li>supportability
<li>configurability
<li>security
</ul>
As a result, ProMan is built on LAMP technology.
<p>
I have had several difficult (to put it kindly) experiences with Microsoft .NET. web portals (some of the programming I did, most I did not).  In the discussion below I will compare ProMan with the .NET experience.
<p>
<b>Performance</b>
<dir>
The .NET portals were extremely clunky. The first user who hit the site after a server reboot would often wait 20 minutes for .NET to load all its paraphernalia and finally serve up the main page.  Even after the home page was loaded, there was often seconds involved in posting a selected form.
<p>
ProMan starts instantaneously, even when using graphical backgrounds for its various frames.  If a page doesn`t <b>pop</b> I immediately suspect the database query and go about optimizing it.  PHP on Apache rocks!
</dir>
<b>Simplicity</b>
<dir>
.NET developers <b>always</b> took 10 times longer to develop any application than it does in PHP.
<p>
The ProMan code is concise taking advantage of the robust PHP function library. At this moment (2008-01-04) the ProMan PHP , JS and image files are less than 1.3MB with .5MB being images!  With such a small amount of code you get all the features described in its self-contained Wiki .
</dir>
<b>Reliability</b>
<dir>
I have ProMan running on 4 servers in the United States and 1 in the Ukraine.  The portals on these servers just keep running and running and running. 
</dir>
<b>Adaptability</b>
<dir>
 Since ProMan runs on PHP and JS , you could even put it on a Windows box (heaven forbid). 
</dir>
<b>Portability</b>
<dir>
 ProMan can be installed on a new box and be up and running in less time than the average .NET programmer can start a new project, develop it and deploy it on their server.
</dir>
<b>Maintainability</b>
<dir>
 Any PHP programmers out there?  The ProMan code is obviously a quick read based on its size.  
<p>
It`s OpenSource ! 
<p>
PhpMyAdmin and WebMin are integrated into ProMan allowing full web-based maintenance of the server, its services and ProMan.
</dir>
<b>Configurability</b>
<dir>
The Admin tools in ProMan are kick-butt.  I am an application server oriented developer.  You can bet that adding, deleting and modifying ProMan features can be done directly using its own tools (over the web!). 
</dir>
<b>Security</b>
<dir>
 ProMan leans heavily on the robust security features of a well-configured LAMP server.
</dir>