Ember.js is a front-end JavaScript framework that aims to provide a complete solution for building client-side applications, encompassing data management and application flow. The latest version, 2.0, has introduced several new features, including Ember CLI, a command-line utility that incorporates common Ember patterns into the app development process, a new rendering engine called Glimmer, and ES6 modules at its core. To get started with Ember.js 2.0 using Ember CLI, developers can create a new project by running `ember new` followed by the desired application name. The framework provides a lot of productivity features, including live reloading development server, fast asset pipeline powered by Broccoli, and generators that help in the application process by creating the project structure according to Ember best practices. By setting up an Ember.js 2.0 environment, developers can build small sample applications and explore its capabilities.