[DeCaF76]

Hi folks. I'm a noob to this forum. I've had XBMC running on a Revo (win7) off and on for five years. I've skimmed through this thread, seen a few things that concern me, hoping I didn't jump the gun/bandwagon on these things. I received today:

Intel NUC D34010WYK
Intel 525 Series Lincoln Crest SSDMCEAC120B301 mSATA 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State
2x Crucial CT102464BF160B PC3-12800 8GB DDR3-1600 CL11 SODIMM 204PIN Single Memory Module

I have a 43' Samsung plasma, and a Yamaha soundbar. I need to go HDMI to TV, optical to bar. So I guess I need this

I"m looking at getting new cables. I haven't used RedMere yet. Any reason why I shouldn't?

Based on what I've read in this thread, my head is kind of spinney, and I honestly have no idea where to go with OS here. I don't have a non-OEM windows license right now. I'm not totally opposed to acquiring one, but I'd rather avoid it if I could. I think based on what's in this thread I can sort myself out, but I just have a few questions.

As of right now, is there a Linux distro/XMBC combo that is working with the new gen NUC and any Intel driver version?
If not, is it realistic to expect this will be resolved by the end of the year?
Should I just say screw it and run Win 8.1?

What remote should I be looking at? I'd like to use the on-board IR and not spend a lot of $, I'll break it inside a year.