So what's up with the trend for a lot of newer motherboards to have only 3 "multi-function" audio jacks on the back panel, instead of the usual 5 or 6 dedicated jacks? With this arrangement, if you want more than 2-channel output you need to sacrifice something else (line and/or mic in), and/or use the front jack for 2 of the channels.
I'm also willing to bet that controlling the port function modes is gonna be a PITA under Linux, unless it is controlled via a BIOS setting.
As an aside, I am also quite unhappy with another new trend, which is to not include descriptions of all of the BIOS settings in the downloadable PDF user manual. Looking at the available BIOS settings is part of my normal research procedure when deciding what motherboard to buy .