XBMC

For those of you not completely technologically innept, I bring you:

XBMC

XBox Media Center - don't be fooled, it's not a game... - is a complete media streaming solution for anyone to use. It's Open-Source, meaning... Anyone can use it completely for free. If you use it commercially, a donation is asked for but never required.

XBMC is currently installed at my house and functioning absolutely perfectly since the day it was downloaded. It manages my media so well that we've managed to cut our cable bill completely.

60 bucks a month savings... I like that.

It's pretty basic to understand the workings of an XBMC server.

You download media - movies, tv shows, music.
You place them in a common folder that XBMC can recognize.
You load them in XBMC.
Connect computer to TV and BINGO... you're live.

Check it out.