We experimentally study the use of two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping ~2D-MOT! for the generation of slow beams of cold atoms out of a vapor cell. A particularly high flux of 9310 rubidium atoms/s at a mean velocity of 8 m/s is obtained using a combination of magneto-optical trapping in two dimensions and Doppler cooling in the third dimension (2D-MOT!. The resulting width of the velocity distribution is 3.3 m/s @full width at half maximum ~FWHM!# with a beam divergence of 43 mrad ~FWHM!. We investigate the total flux as a function of vapor cell pressure and determine the velocity distribution of our slow atom sources. For comparison, we also realized a low-velocity intense source ~LVIS!, first reported by Lu et al. @Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3331 ~1996!#. We find that the 2D-MOT yields a significantly higher flux than the LVIS, even when used with an order of magnitude less laser power. @S1050-2947~98!04311-X#