All releases can be downloaded from SourceForge. Select the version you want to download and then select which artefact you want:

If you like to take a quick tutorial that will guide you through most of the components using a simple example, take a look at the Installer chapter. This will teach you how to download and use the installer to create a demo setup, including most of the components. It uses a simple example to guide you through the most important features. Screencasts are available to help you out as well.

If you like to read more information first, the following chapters first focus on the core engine (API, BPMN 2.0, etc.). Further chapters will then describe the other components and other more complex topics like domain-specific processes, flexible processes, etc. After reading the core chapters, you should be able to jump to other chapters that you might find interesting.

You can also start playing around with some examples that are offered in a separate download. Check out the examples chapter to see how to start playing with these.

After that, you should be ready to start creating your own processes and integrate the engine with your application, for example by starting from the installer or another example, or by starting from scratch.

Here are a lot of useful links if we want to become part of the jBPM community:

Please feel free to join us in our IRC channel at irc.codehaus.org #jbpm. This is where most of the real-time discussion about the project takes place and where you can find most of the developers most of their time as well. Don't have an IRC client installed? Simply go to http://irc.codehaus.org, input your desired nickname, and specify #jbpm. Then click login to join the fun.