Audio & Video Whole Experts Wanted!

["darren_karp2001" <darren@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

Although I've posted a previous message yesterday I thought I'd
elaborate on what I'm trying to achieve in my house.

We are converting our interior garage into living space and with the
upheaval that will occur this is the perfect time to run new cables,
etc.

We have 3 bedrooms and a master living area. I want to build a PC to
serve both audio and video (by ripping my exisiting DVD
collection,etc.)All my audio is and will be in MP3 format. Ideally I
would like the users to be able to select any movie from an on screen
display either on a TV or preferably a colour TFT touchpanel. The
audio should be able to be played back either from a small hi-fi or
again, preferably from a small network attached amplifier with small
speakers.

I will be of course running Cat 5e cabling and assume I would need to
use gigaethernet for the concurrent streaming.

What I need to know is what software application(s) are available not
only as a front-end interface but that can actually do the streaming
itself. I'd prefer NOT to use Microsoft software if I can help it,
favouring perhaps Linux for it's speed (and lower cost!).

It is highly likely that I would need someone to supply, install and
configure the system for me but being in the IT business myself would
build the necessary file server.

If anyone can advise and / or help I'd really appreciate hearing from
you.

Many Thanks
Darren