I made a program for one of my cabs a while back which was just that... A Front End Front End. I called it: FEFE (catchy, huh?)
I used it at bootup to get into Mamewah , jukebox software, drop to windows, and shut down PC. All using P1 Joystick and 1 button for cab-friendliness.
I then thought I would make it customizable, so other people could simply edit an .ini file and make their own FEFE, but I never released it to the public (since other front ends were coming out that allowed multiple emus, shutting down, etc).
I can bring it back alive if anyone would be interested. But I can promise I have nowhere near the programming skill of the others around here

-Stobe