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Do your applications support XP themes?

Last updated by Igor Goldobin about 2 months ago.See history

All applications should be compatible with the Windows XP user interface and should be fully themed. Applications that do not use XP themes look like they were designed only for an earlier version of Windows. Mixing themed and non-themed controls looks equally unprofessional.

Figure: Bad example - XP themes are not used

Figure: Good example - XP themes are used

Implementing XP Themes

We recommend using manifest file to support XP Themes in .NET. Follow this to use the manifest file.

  1. Set the FlatStyle Property in all our controls to "System"

    setbuttonflatstyle
    Figure: How to set the Button's FlatStyle Property

  2. Copy XPThemes.manifest file to your bin folder
    By default, you can get it from C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\XPThemes.manifest
  3. Rename "XpThemes.manifest" to "ApplicationName.exe.manifest"

Note: In .NET 1.1 you can use Application.EnableVisualStyles to support XP Themes. This approach is not recommended because it can cause an 'SEHException' to be thrown and some common controls could disappear.

Adam Cogan
Windows Forms Applications
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