Windows 7 to become legacy theme

[Toby]

Hi

I notice in the release notes for WinForms 2025.4.1321 that the upcoming release (Q2 2026) will no longer support Windows 7 theme (amongst others). My desktop application make extensive use of this theme, including mimicing the colours used by th etheme in other custom controls.

What is exactly meant by "Support for existing controls using these themes will remain unchanged."? Will my existing application work as before without changes for this and following releases of WinForms?

Cheers
Toby

[Skyler]

I've encountered a similar situation with other legacy themes, and the app still worked correctly after the upgrade. However, Windows 7 themes are considered "frozen," meaning they don't fix bugs and aren't compatible with new features. In the long term, you should consider switching themes or managing colors yourself through custom controls. Steal Brainrot Game

[Nadya | Tech Support Engineer]

Hello, Toby,

We are announcing this change in advance to ensure that our clients are informed ahead of its planned introduction in Q2 2026.

The statement “Support for existing controls using these themes will remain unchanged” means that all currently supported RadControls (before Q2 2026) will continue to function as before with the Windows7 theme. Your application will continue to work without any impact with Windows 7 theme.

Please note that this change applies exclusively to newly introduced components, which will no longer support the legacy themes. All existing components will continue to support the legacy themes.

In the meantime, it would be very valuable for us to know whether you plan to further develop your application by including new components or whether your focus is on maintaining an existing application using the Windows7 theme. In either case, please feel free to contact us at any time and share your feedback.

Regards,
Nadya | Tech Support Engineer
Progress Telerik

[Toby]

I don't envisage adding any completely new components, though I'm sure I will be adding plenty of existing standard type compoennts such as grid view, tree view, toggle buttons, buttons, labels etc

[Nadya | Tech Support Engineer]

Hello, Toby,

Thank you for sharing this information. RadGridView, RadTreeView, RadLabel and all RadButtons will continue to work with Windows7 theme.

Regards,
Nadya