Since my first day with Typo3 i had a love-hate with it. On the one side you are able to do really complex and interactive layouts with TypoScript and template architecture, but on the other site the available extensions are not very good.
I want an extension where i can set a number of content variables, add a custom stylesheet-style, easy to maintenance and there should be a posibility for an assimilation into different backend requirements.
But i think I have to program my own extension 
.
While I searched for an easier alternative to Typo3 i found a nice Open Source CMS gallery.
The greatest feature on this website is the live-preview of the available CM – Systems. I think Mambo could be an alternative.
Mambo has a very nice backend interface and functionality seems to be similar to the standard Typo3 features. But i have to read a lot of recensions before i am going to start a new adventure with a new CMS.