I've been using Front Row since 2007, on a Mac mini before they went to core2duo processors. I'm not sure what King Hal means that it's a "dog". Compared to what exactly? It has always worked fine for us, from our first mini to our current iMac.
Compared to this..
Plex - A Complete Media Solution
Honestly I haven`t used Front Row much.
I started tinkering with it when I set my Mac Mini up as a media center and while trying to find a work around for some problem or other with getting Front Row to stream my content I found Plex.
It will stream content from any computer in my house to my media center.
Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Pandora, and tons of other media channels.
Very cool application.
They have an iPad app in the app store that turns your iPad, iPhone, or iPod into a remote for Plex.
I love it.