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Gorro
Gorro

Reputation: 95

Is it possible to achieve the "Aero Glass" look on XP?

Does anyone know any kind of framework that enables (not exactly the same, but) Vista's Aero Glass on XP?

I need to develop a little desktop application with WPF, which has a Vista-like UI on XP. I don't need exactly the Aero Glass, some UI like "Windows Live Messenger" will do the thing. Is there any way to make it a reality?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 5931

Answers (2)

Stefano Driussi
Stefano Driussi

Reputation: 2261

As Stu Mackellar wrote, Windows XP is missing a required piece in order to obtain Aero Glass effect: DWM. A solution is to create your own "fake" glass effect. Thake a look to this blog (you can download the code).

Upvotes: 1

Stu Mackellar
Stu Mackellar

Reputation: 11638

If you really mean Aero Glass then I think you're out of luck. The hardware acceleration required to create this effect is only supported via Vista's new DWM (Desktop Window Manager), which works by compositing multiple windows together into one rendered layer.

If you just want transparency and non-rectangular windows then this can definitely be achieved in XP, as evidenced by the fact that Windows Live Messenger can do it. Have a look at Layered Windows in MSDN.

Upvotes: 4

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