Questions about Media Portal and TV server

[Cellwind929]

I have looked through the documentation for media portal and the server, along with watching the videos, and it seems straight forward enough. I plan to have a dedicated media server, and am looking towards media portal as a solution because linux is too complicated and everything else is either expensive or limited, so media portal looked perfect. I have a few concerns though.

I have all my dvds ripped as .mkv and .avi files. The files will be on my media pc which will have TV server installed on it. If I were to use My Films and My TV Series, will all of the data, such as cover art and description, on films and tv shows be able to be stored on the server and updated from there, or will the clients have to have the data stored there also?

After reading the documentation, I'm pretty sure I have to share the folders that are to be streamed across the network in order for the clients to pick it up, then configure each client to point to the video, music, and tv folders. Is there a way I can just have the tv server have the folders configured already so the client myth can just be installed and find everything? If not, if I have to set it up for every single client, is there a way I can make an easy install that will preconfigure everything, either by doing a backup or by zipping up a folder.

I am also unsure of how the tv guide updates, is there currently a free automatic solution? I know the one used by mythtv recently got canned and now theres only a pay for solution, is this the same with mediaportal? Is there one tvguide solution recommended over others or are there a few different options?

I've noticed the MyFilms and MyTVSeries plugins and will probably play with them, are there any other plugins that are heavily recommended?

I also noticed there are alot of new versions like nightly builds and what not released alot, how often should I update the tv server and/or clients? I want this setup to be stable as possible, and matinance free, so is there a specific version of tv server / clients I should use?

Finally, I am curious to the future plans and features of MediaPortal, along with the TV server. Is there anywhere that discusses upcoming features or lists a roadmap of what is to come?

Thanks for answering these questions I have in advance and I hope that I can finally find a solution to my media server woes.