As Q1 2010 is approaching we thought it would be a good idea to tell you where we are currently with our new Visual Style Builder (VSB) for Windows Forms. After several months of hard work we are almost done with an application, which may be easily described as Expression Blend, but for Windows Forms.
The most important aspect of the new VSB is that it will decrease the amount of time needed to create or tweak themes from days to hours, and even minutes! We have considerably simplified the work flow to allow you to focus on more important things, such as functionality, but you will still be able to create excellent looking themes, just a lot faster!
This new application has completely revamped design and theme semantic, based mainly on Theme Repository, Visual States and extended element selectors such as the Parent-Child one. Here is a snapshot of our new VSB:
Besides the exciting new design (Visual Studio 2010 theme for RadDock included), this tool comes with loads of User Experience goodies such as:
And this is just a quick summary of all the features this application comes with. There are many other tweaks in the works as well as tons of predefined themes to be used out-of-the-box, or as templates for your own custom ones.
Well, that's all for now. Once we release the new VSB, we will cover each major part of it in-depth so that you can easily get familiar and become an experienced Telerik Visual Style Builder without learning anything new!
UPDATE: The new Visual Style Builder is available for download from your accounts - look for the Q1 2010 Beta version available link under RadControls for WinForms. We will expect your feedback through the RadControls for WinForms Beta Forum!
Nikolay Diyanov Diyanov is the Product Manager of the Native Mobile UI division at Progress. Delivering outstanding solutions that make developers' lives easier is his passion and the biggest reward in his work. In his spare time, Nikolay enjoys travelling around the world, hiking, sun-bathing and kite-surfing.
Find him on Twitter @n_diyanov or on LinkedIn.