Telerik WinForms Tools get new slicker theme for Q3 2009

It was time to spend a little time to update the UI of the Tools included in the RadControls for WinForms suite. Not because we did not like the old design - quite the contrary - the green Telerik theme was quite impressive back in the day, when we introduced it:

Rather, we felt that we need a more modern and minimalistic look, one that is more innovative, even corporate. As a result, as of Q3 2009 the WinForms Tools use the Office 2007 Black theme in out tools. Enjoy!

Visual Style Builder

The new skin in the Visual Style Builder emphasizes the details of the control you are editing, making it easier to use:

RadGridView Property Builder

The GridView property builder got the most attention. Not only it looks excellent with the Black skin on, but there are several profound changes in its functionality:

• The navigation control for RadGridView's object structure is now RadTreeView
• The columns listed in RadTreeView are reordered automatically when you switch their place in the Preview mode.
• You can now create new columns and templates directly from the Property Builder
• You can now delete columns and templates directly from the Property BuilderProperty Builder
• The UI and the command buttons are context aware - they update when the selected object in RadTreeView is changed
• The business logic has been updated and refactored based on the MVP pattern.
• The loading/saving time has been optimized.
   

RadTreeView Property Builder

The RadTreeView property builder has an updated design that matches the rest of the tools. There are no new features, but the new skin definitely looks more polished:

Project Update Utility

Although we are working on extending this tool's functionality for Q1 2010, we decided to give it the "black theme" treatment for consistency:

RadControlSpy

The final tool that received the new treatment is RadControlSpy - a helpful tool, which now looks as modern as it is functional: