Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
I am using the hauppauge MVP as squeezebox replacements.You can connect some powered speakers or it has a spdifcurrently its not plug and play (working on that though).HTHTimBefore getting one of these check the forums- if I remember correctly only some revisions are compatible without an additional pxe server.