We have covered the Red October initiative before. The UI (Theater View) is a couple of notches below XBMC, but it more than makes up for the lack of eye candy and ease of navigation by completely handling the configuration of madVR and various codecs without user intervention. If you have already tried XBMC, but still have unmet requirements in terms of technical capabilities, I would definitely recommend taking a look at JRiver MC18.

If you don't particularly care for madVR or don't have any interlaced VC-1 clips in your library (and don't plan to add any), XBMC is a very good choice for the software interface to a Intel-based HTPC like the one we are discussing right now. Interlaced VC-1 Playback in XBMC (non-DXVA Mode)

However, interlaced VC-1 clips pose a challenge even with DXVA disabled. It works very well for most common media files (standard TV broadcast recordings and Blu-ray/DVD re-encodes in MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 / H.264). XBMC's internal playback engine incorporates DXVA capability also. It is possible to go through hoops to make XBMC use MPC-HC and LAV filters for media playback, but the XBMC UI is lost during playback. XBMC, undoubtedly, has set the gold standard for the HTPC user interface. However, the user interface is not really amenable to a media center experience. The combination of MPC-HC and LAV Filters enabled us to play back all our media files without issues. Software Interface: XBMC and JRiver Media Center 18

Jriver media center 22 review