Now that FrontRow is officially gone from Mac OS X Lion, is there still a way to make your Mac a home entertainment media center? Well... Yes there is, and there always has been a better alternative to Apple's FrontRow, which was a just a stripped-down Apple TV user interface linked to iTunes. Although it was very simple to use and was integrated with all your iTunes media, it lacked features and the ability to play most media files available today. Fortunately, there are many solutions available. Lets look at one simple solution to a Mac Home Theatre Center.

Whether you have a Mac Mini or an iMac, it's quite easy to turn any Mac into a Home Theatre Media Center. Here are some simple steps to get you started with setting up your Mac Media Center.



What's needed?
- An Intel Mac Computer with Mac OS X

You can use any Mac you like whether its an iMac, Macbook, Mac Mini or Mac Pro.
- An Apple Remote
It's not necessary, you can always use your keyboard to navigate your files. But does not give you the media centre user experience. The Apple remote is low-cost and instantly integrates with most media manager software.
- Plex Media Center software


Step 1 - Download Plex Media Center
Plex Media Center is a free Media player based on XBMC. Plex uses a very smooth and polished graphical user interface that makes it easy to search and navigate your media. The total download size is approximately 115 megabytes. You can download Plex at their Official Website.



Step 2 - Setting Up Plex
Once you have downloaded Plex you will need to install it. To install Plex, all you need to do is just simply  open the downloaded file and drag the app to your Applications folder (just like most Mac applications).
Now run Plex from your Applications folder, you will be prompted to locate all your media files. You will be asked to add your Music, Movies & TV Shows folders. Once you have added your media files, Plex will sort and organise them (this may take 5-10 minutes depending on the size of your content).
You will notice that you will have a Plex icon on the Menu Bar. There you can change your user preferences, manage your media, and update your library.
By selecting Media Manager, you will be able to manage your media content, update your media files info, and add + remove media sources.

Step 3 - Run Plex
And thats it! Your Mac media center is complete! You will now be able to listen & view all your media content on Plex. Your Apple Remote will be instantly ready to use for browsing your content. Enjoy!