How do I make my apps look like Office 2013 and VS 2012?

Question

I want to make my apps look like Office 2013 and VS 2012. The new white, streamlined look. Also with the solid color toolbar icons. Is there a way to make my apps look that them with VB 2010?

Drake

Just add a toolbar control and draw your own icons? – Cabasset

Take a screenshot of your favourite app and load that image in a fullscreen image control. Your app will then look just like your chosen favourite and you won't have to write much code to make it happen. – Etrem

I suggest looking into 3rd party controls. Microsoft does not provide a way for WinForms. I don't think learning WPF is cost effective, at least for this purpose. – Lexical

Answer 1

Look into the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

To recreate the new tool bat in .NET 4+ you can use the Ribbon (WPF) Control. If you're targeting earlier versions you will have to create your own ribbon control or find a 3rd party solution.

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In order to help design your application, I suggest you get a copy of Microsoft Expression Blend. It will make working with WPF (XAML) much easier. The the built in editor that comes with VS 2010 isn't even close to as good. The VS 2012 designer is suppose to be better, although I haven't tried it myself.

Sod

"Most of the new office programs were written in WPF, not winforms." - Do you have a source or citation for this? Office applications are not CLR processes and have no dependencies on WPF. – Curtate

It is. Most current MS applications are written in C using proprietary GUI Toolkits. – Timoshenko

I've removed the line with the unsupported statement. If you believe the remaining information is incorrect, I politely suggest you post the correct answer instead of commenting on mine. If it's better,than mine I'll be happy to upvote it. – Sod