.Net style in Vista vs. Vista Aero | Tech Off

alwaysmc2
It's not stupid; It's advanced.

I don't understand why the .Net toolsbars in Vista look so spartan compared to the pretty Aero ones. The toolbars in .Net on XP at least have some gradients.

Also, why can't I make that pretty sort arrow at the top of a column of a ListView? Appending "(A-Z)" or "(Z-A)" to the column title makes programs seem dated. I know that I could instead use a picture of arrows pointing up and down, but even that doesn't look right, since the arrow would be beside the column title instead of at the top.

OK, I'm not just complaining. Is there a way to fix these two issues??

evildictaitor
How could you use the adjective "indescribable" truthfully?

Firstly the toolbars in Windows Vista have so much colour in them that they look completely weird and the blue-green colour they chose is ugly anyway.

Secondly, anything is possible in .NET - just create your own control to do it.

Sadly that control isn't available for .NET users out of the box (I think it's not even in MFC) so you have to either create it yourself or pay money for it.

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

evildictaitor wrote:

Firstly the toolbars in Windows Vista have so much colour in them that they look completely weird and the blue-green colour they chose is ugly anyway.

The colour is also hardcoded, the idea of forcing a specific aesthetic on Windows users in Vista is one of the reasons I'm not using it.

Still, getting Vista-like toolbars is easy, the background fill is a simple arrangement of 4 gradients. Then double-paint the button text for the drop-shadow and you're set.

figuerres
???

alwaysmc2 wrote:

I don't understand why the .Net toolsbars in Vista look so spartan compared to the pretty Aero ones. The toolbars in .Net on XP at least have some gradients.

Also, why can't I make that pretty sort arrow at the top of a column of a ListView? Appending "(A-Z)" or "(Z-A)" to the column title makes programs seem dated. I know that I could instead use a picture of arrows pointing up and down, but even that doesn't look right, since the arrow would be beside the column title instead of at the top.

OK, I'm not just complaining. Is there a way to fix these two issues??

also notice that your forms "Chrome" is also different.

you might want to start working with WPF -- as it was made to allow better visuals....

or digg into what vista apps are doing, there may be a set of dlls that provide some of the stuff you want.

have you looked into the windows SDK ?
I am 99% sure the SDK and design guide has to say something about how to get the "native vista look" in an app.

alwaysmc2
It's not stupid; It's advanced.

figuerres wrote:

alwaysmc2 wrote: I don't understand why the .Net toolsbars in Vista look so spartan compared to the pretty Aero ones. The toolbars in .Net on XP at least have some gradients.

Also, why can't I make that pretty sort arrow at the top of a column of a ListView? Appending "(A-Z)" or "(Z-A)" to the column title makes programs seem dated. I know that I could instead use a picture of arrows pointing up and down, but even that doesn't look right, since the arrow would be beside the column title instead of at the top.

OK, I'm not just complaining. Is there a way to fix these two issues??

also notice that your forms "Chrome" is also different.

you might want to start working with WPF -- as it was made to allow better visuals....

or digg into what vista apps are doing, there may be a set of dlls that provide some of the stuff you want.

have you looked into the windows SDK ?
I am 99% sure the SDK and design guide has to say something about how to get the "native vista look" in an app.

.NET is supposed to just take care of that kind of stuff. That's one reason why I like working with .NET so much. Big Smile

WPF seems to have the style I want, though. The only problem is that I have very little experience working with WPF. For example, dragging a toolbar onto the canvas is easy enough, but how do I add buttons to it? Tongue Out

Does anyone know of a good WPF tutorial?

figuerres
???

alwaysmc2 wrote:

.NET is supposed to just take care of that kind of stuff. That's one reason why I like working with .NET so much.

WPF seems to have the style I want, though. The only problem is that I have very little experience working with WPF. For example, dragging a toolbar onto the canvas is easy enough, but how do I add buttons to it?

Does anyone know of a good WPF tutorial?

I hear ya ... when I have time I am trying to get up to speed on WPF and Silverlight ....

as they share a lot of the same stuff perhaps Scott Guthries Silverlight blog posts will help ?

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/04/04/tip-trick-creating-and-using-silverlight-and-wpf-user-controls.aspx

if I find other stuff I will mention it...