Programs running in .NET CLR

[Echo toxin]

I was just having a tinker with Windows Vista and reading up on the whole GDI+/WDM/Aero thing. Am I right in saying that applications will still look a bit pants GUI-wise (read: look like XP) unless they're (re)written in .NET 3.0 and use the Windows Presentation Foundation APIs?

Have we seen any specific Vista programs yet? I'm guessing the new sets of games are done using WPF.

Are there any developer tools that can be run to show which programs are running inside the CLR?

 

[NathanE]

Applications will look pretty much the same unless they specifically use WPF. WPF is a new programming model for GUI's and as such will take time for applications that use it to emerge.

That said however, the entire Vista desktop is still powered by WPF under the hood. So all the benefits of a high performance, non tearing desktop will be present for legacy GDI based applications. Legacy app's will still get a Aero Glass titlebar and border too. And if they use XP Theming they'll also receive the new Aero look for controls/buttons etc.

Games won't use WPF, they'll use DX 10. WPF, ignoring the obvious desktop compositor and memory management components, is basically a set of control components (e.g. text boxes, list boxes, data grids etc) for presenting information on screen. They are more powerful and extensible than any of the existing controls in .NET WinForms.

Process Explorer from sysinternals.com will highlight .NET applications in yellow.

 

[Echo toxin]

Applications will look pretty much the same unless they specifically use WPF. WPF is a new programming model for GUI's and as such will take time for applications that use it to emerge.

So in time, maybe 2-3 years, is it likely that EVERY application (not games) will be using .NET and WPF?

Games won't use WPF, they'll use DX 10.

Sorry - I meant the eight or so new games that come with Windows - MineSweeper, Mahjong, Solitaire, etc. I presume they use WPF (which gives them DirectX 10 capability) because they allow dynamic resizing of the windows and the graphics are drawn to match the new size. It looks like the whole application is drawn using vector graphics.