How to achieve Vista glass transparency (AERO) in a WPF application?

Question

It's easy for a WPF application to make parts of a window transparent or semi-transparent. But how to I apply the current Vista theme (colors, opacity) to these transparent parts?

When I have a green glass border how will I get a green glass background of the same style?

Is it even possible to do this without calls to the Windows API?

I am thinking of something like this

Answer 1

Here's a nice example:

CodeProject: Adding Glass Effect to WPF using Attached Properties

Answer 2

Take a look at this link, look for the section titled "IE7 – Extending the glass frame":

http://blogs.msdn.com/wpfsdk/archive/2008/09/08/custom-window-chrome-in-wpf.aspx

Answer 3

Here's the official documentation on extending the Aero glass effect in your WPF app:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms748975.aspx