Kevin,
I could not agree more with your sentiments, and am having the exact same experience, but will keep trying, and post a proper 'newbies' guide here when I work it out for my particular scenario.
DJBlu - no offence intended, but your post is fairly typical of the posts we struggle with - it just lacks a 'I finally now have a fully functional Phillips SRM5100 in XP with MediaPortal. Nananananana!' while you thumb your nose at us!!
Kevin - the IR Suite problem you specify - I think I know what this is. Is this the step where it says to copy the file into the hidden folder called C:\ProgramData\... that does not exist in XP? I had the same issue, but in XP it is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ or something like that - it's certainly in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\ directory somewhere...having said that, I did not get IR Server Suite working yet, as like you I lack the basic knowlege - does this replace iMon software, do I need patches, which patches, downloaded from where etc etc.
I am away from homme until Friday this week, but will be giving this some time over the weekend, and hope to get this working then. The HTTPC cannot pass the 'Wife Proof' test without a working remote of some sort, so this determines if the HTPC stays in the study with a monitor in it, or makes it into the lounge rack with the 42" LCD attached.