My solution so far has been to run VNC so I can control the media machine from my other PC's or a laptop.
(There are a number of free VNC programs as well as some you can purchase. Do a Google on VNC or try UltraVNC)
It is somewhat of a resource-hog as I imagine it must scan the screen and convert everything, transmit the data, then rereate the screen image. There is also a slight lag in cursor response but nothing that you cannot get used to.
This has been working quite well otherwise, and until I find a more efficient technique this is functional for me.
Thanks for the VNC tip Lisa. In the past I have tried using using TightVNC and Version 1.2.9 is currently installed on my system. It works like it is supposed toand there is definitely a bit of sluggishness while browsing through album art. Sometimes the images even lock up a bit. Another problem with VNC software has to do with screen resolutions. My main computer monitor runs at a native resolution of 1280x1024. My laptop runs at a widescreen resolution of 1280x768. Now of course I can resize the MC window to fit on a 1280x768 screen but when another user goes to the main screen, MC is of course not using the full screen.
Can I ask why you believe that "NetRemote does not cut it".
I use it and it works great.
NetRemote does work great, however NetRemote does not offer anything close to the same interface as MC. Sure you can customize the NetRemote interface but it's not a user friendly thing to do. MC is so easy to modify. One thing I have been unable to figure out how to do with NetRemote is to build a playlist that I can save. I suppose it's possible but one would have to do their own programming with the NetRemote Designer software just to build the appropriate interface.
One of the best features of MC is the ability to browse through a music library while having the album artwork update accordingly as one drills down. I can't do this with NetRemote.
The MC interface already does everything I would want. Now if there was a way to use the MC interface as a front end for NetRemote in order to control MC then I would be quite happy.