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There are many Windows 7 controls already out there. Ive included the best open source .NET components available. If you have other great controls, add them to the comments.
For each control Ill list what versions of .NET it compiles for and what versions of Windows it will run on.
Windows Ribbon for Windows Forms
Arik Poznanski has a great series of posts about the ribbon control he wrote that wraps the Windows 7 API.
Download it now full source code & examples. Also, view his series of articles (9 of them as of today).
Works with: Windows Forms (.NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5)
Windows Versions: Only Windows 7
Windows API Code Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework
This is a mammoth control collection that is the work of 3 people.
Here are the major features:
- Windows 7 Taskbar Jump Lists, Icon Overlay, Progress Bar, Tabbed Thumbnails, and Thumbnail Toolbars.
- Windows 7 Libraries, Known Folders, non-file system containers.
- Windows Shell Search API support, a hierarchy of Shell Namespace entities, and Drag and Drop functionality for Shell Objects.
- Explorer Browser Control.
- Shell property system.
- Windows Vista and Windows 7 Common File Dialogs, including custom controls.
- Windows Vista and Windows 7 Task Dialogs.
- Direct3D 11.0, Direct3D 10.1/10.0, DXGI 1.0/1.1, Direct2D 1.0, DirectWrite, Windows Imaging Component (WIC) APIs. (DirectWrite and WIC have partial support)
- Sensor Platform APIs
- Extended Linguistic Services APIs
- Power Management APIs
- Application Restart and Recovery APIs
- Network List Manager APIs
- Command Link control and System defined Shell icons.
Download it now full source code & examples.
Compiles with: Windows Forms (.NET 3.5) & Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
Windows Versions: Windows Vista & Windows 7
Windows 7 Progress Bar
Windows 7 Progress Bar is an open source progress bar component that allows you to add a progress bar to your program's taskbar button. In addition, you can control the different states of the progress bar (normal, error, and paused) for Vista & Windows 7.
Download it now full source code & examples.
Compiles with: Windows Forms (.NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5)
Windows Versions: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
VistaMenu
VistaMenu is a menu component that allows you to add Windows 7 and Windows Vista-style menus with icons to your program. It's written in C# and works with all .NET languages.
Download it now full source code & examples.
Compiles with: Windows Forms (.NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5)
Windows Versions: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
SplitButton
SplitButton is a button control with a region that shows a context menu when clicked. It's written in C# and works with all .NET languages.
Download it now full source code & examples.
Compiles with: Windows Forms (.NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5)
Windows Versions: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
LinkLabel2
LinkLabel2 is a fixed version of the Windows.Forms LinkLabel control. It features the correct system "hand" cursor, and correct font rendering.
Download it now full source code & examples.
Compiles with: Windows Forms (.NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5)
Windows Versions: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
7 Days of Windows 7
Join me tomorrow when I talk about Finishing touches: Make your .NET app shine with professionalism. See the full list of articles in the series.
- Next: Finishing touches: Make your .NET app shine with professionalism
- Previous: Shield icons, UAC, and process elevation in .NET on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and 7
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Hey, I love this series of articles. I just got my Windows 7 today and am about to backup everything and start installing. Can't wait.
A quick question. I'm a budding programmer. I've been using .NET and C# about a year. What would be your advise for someone like to me to start a misv. Can I make a good program by learning features as I need them or should I become really good at .NET before I attempt my own retail product?
I'm keen to hear your thoughts.
Thanks.
Hi Ketan,
I'm going to answer your questions in reverse order.
The best way to learn programming is to program something real. Also, if you're in High school or College then you should take as many programming courses as you can. And in every language that's offered (C, C++, Java, SQL, etc.).
So, take the dive now.
There are about 1000 pieces of advice. The most important, however, is to develop a product that people need. The only way to do that is to talk to people and work with people. (Also, friends and family aren't real people. Their support is great, but they won't be your customers.)
The second piece of advice is charge early. That is, your users should pay for your software even when it's in it's buggy early betas. If you can attract paying users with a buggy product, then it means you're solving a pain. If you're solving a pain you may have a business.
For the next 998 pieces of advice I refer you to the following 5 people:
I hope this is of some help to you.
Hey thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.
I've been a follower and Joel Spolsky for a while now and love his insights on running a software business.
I'll definately check out the other resource you gave.
Thanks.
Quote:
"Hey thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.
Ive been a follower and Joel Spolsky for a while now and love his insights on running a software business.
Ill definately check out the other resource you gave."
If he hadn't said it, I would. Cheers!
I was checking out your VistaMenu application, since .NET's menus really don't fit in with the OS ever. Unfortunately, your code requires the use of the old style MenuItems, where .NET's latest versions have moved on to the ToolStripMenuItem. Think you'll update for the change?
No. It was a conscious decision to use MenuItems instead of ToolStrip*. MenuItems wrap the native API for menus (animations, drawing, etc.). ToolStripMenuItems are completely owner draw, hence their out-of-place look.
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Wow that's great, a nice framework to build upon. I was just looking for some open source examples of .NET controls, thanks!