Magento is a new open source e-commerce platform launching (according to their website) in August. It looks like Magento might finally give me a reason to try an open source e-commerce software package.

Most open source e-commerce softwares are crippled with some major flaws. Many lack commercial support (which is absolutely essential for a live store), they have inconsistent, often buggy code due to the number and varied skillsets of the contributors, and they often go months, or even years without product updates.

Magento is being developed by successful e-commerce and web development company Varien, which appears to be have their stuff together (just look at their clients and portfolio).

Magento looks promising, and I hope to get my hands on it before or soon after launch to try it out and write a review. The screenshots and videos on their website are impressive, showing that open source software doesn’t have to have poorly designed UI and administrative area.

They appear to have put a lot of time and effort into making Magento easy to customize, which makes sense considering their background as developers. The feature list is impressive – the software looks like it could be a serious contender right out of the gate.

Check out the website for screenshots, videos and detailed list of features.