How to design a rich UI in winform app in .Net?

Question

I want to create a winform application in c# that uses a rich UI or better controls than the default windows controls. One example of the UI that comes to mind is that of main screen of latest edition of AVG free antivirus software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AVG_Internet_Security.png).

Any idea of how a similar UI could be designed, without hardcoding controls? Do you think that the main options are shown using a custom list view control? Also I don't want to go for commercial third party controls like devexpress etc.

Also any pointers for winforms c# skinning would be appreciated.

Thanks and Regards, Omkar

Answer 1

Heavy use of images. E.g. you could go with putting images over Labels. Register to mouse events and swap the images. There you are.

Answer 2

If you're creating a client application but want to break free of the standard Windows look-and-feel you might that WPF better suits your needs.

Answer 3

If you're stuck with using WinForms, your best bet would be to use WPF controls within your WinForms application. This will allow you to take advantage of WPF UI functionality if an existing program or team programming knowledge prevents you from totally switching to WPF.