I dare say not a great deal has changed in the last 5 years, we see the odd update to emulators and people still build XBMC but by and large it is done.
Nobody hacks the BIOS unless they have a chip, it is all about the patchers these days.
Speaking of which if it is not a 1.6 model xbox you do have the option of TSOP modding it (probably the best option overall- all the fun of a chip (read easy hard drive upgrading) for the price of a softmod (free)). As you asked for hotswap though
You will need a PC with IDE/pata capabilities (common enough still but some vendor machines and some motherboards do lack it these days).
We pretty much gave up on windows based FATX supporting apps (granted some of the newer 360 stuff might just change that) and now use a custom version of linux called xboxHDM. General order of things is boot xbox with cable only in enough to make a connection.
Pull at correct time.
Insert into PC that has loaded xboxHDM
Read drive with PC and flash homebrew to it.
Test and rebuild xbox.
Once that is sorted you can boot homebrew, FTP works but many opt for something called auto installer deluxe which has just about everything on it in nice couple of clicks install format.
I do not rate any one guide so have a bunch:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/548462
http://forums.afterdawn.com/t.cfm/f-117/ho...hotswap-332766/
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?sho...496263&st=0