Does .NET 3.5 allows to use the new features of Windows 7?

Question

Some of the applications running on Windows 7 (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, in example) use the icon they present in the task bar to show a little progress bar. Is it possible to use that feature using the .NET Framework 3.5?

Answer 1

Try the Windows API Code Pack

• http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

This assembly provides access to Windows specific features like the tool bar. It allows for just the scenario you're looking for.

Answer 2

You're looking for the Windows API Code Pack

Answer 3

Since the new taskbar APIs can be accessed from C or C++ using Win32 API calls and COM, you can access them from any version of .NET by calling into the C APIs. Some examples can be found in this article. See also the resources linked here.