I have (with help from Matt of JRiver and RonB (Girder author)) found a way to change zones and knowing where you are with Ben/WickedEwok's NetRemote. Briefly I use send key with ctrl+~ (this was what had me confused for such a long time since I need to use "ø" on a norwegian keyboard) to change zone, the "Get caption" function in Girder to get the title of the MC window (where the zone is displayed), a script in Girder to remove "Media Center" and the () so only the name of the zone is left, and finally Internet Event Client to send the result to NetRemote. Another button only checks the sone and sends the result. I have also tied an action to the "home" CCF, so when I press MC to get to the MC frame I get the zone the moment it opens. If anybody's interested, I can export the groups and the CCF. Finally I own a full featured multi-zone system that works reliably!
That is, except for one bug: If you change to a zone where there are no songs in "Playing now" MC will crash with the same C++ message that crippled an earlier build (maybe 0.87 or something).
But all in all, when I remember to have something in Playing now in all zones it works without a hitch! So thanks, MC gang, RonB and Ben/WickedEwok! This is only getting better and better!