So one feature of the iMac which I hadn’t really considered was that it comes with SnowLeopard. On the one hand, this seems like a good idea, since it’s the latest Mac OS. However, in my experience, I actually prefer these days to be slightly behind the curve on OSes, since it usually takes a while to get all of the kinks out of the systems.
One such kink was the support for the Apple Remote. We did eventually get one from our local Best Buy (amusing side story: I had checked availability at the store online, gone in to buy it, and been told by the clerks that they didn’t have any. I went home, observed the availability still online, and so I bought one for in-store pickup. A few hours after that, I got the email telling me to go pick it up, which I did.) Unfortunately, the Apple Remote did not “just work”, like things are supposed to on the Mac. Looking further at it, I saw that in fine print on Hulu Desktop, it very clearly states the same problem.
Oh well. After scouring the forums, I discovered people linking to candelair, a free software driver from the makers of RemoteBuddy for OSX to resolve the issues with the remote on OSX. So I’ve installed it, and now our Media PC works nicely by remote (no configuration necessary for FrontRow, HuluDesktop, Boxee (+Netflix), and MythFrontend). Now, if only the Apple Remote had more than 6 buttons, which would be really nice for MythTV!
Wow, that sounds like a lot of work for a solution based on a Mac! Sounds like ditching the cable company is working out well for you guys.