Non-standard UI in C#

Question

I'm still learning C#, and I know don't know about WinForms yet but I will very soon. However I want to know how I would create an application which shows a customized notifier, like Growl on a Mac. Here's a mock up:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3793/41151387.jpg http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3793/41151387.jpg

Could anyone point me in the right direction? And I know I should learn more about C# before trying this, but I've always liked to peek on complicated stuff.

Answer 1

Take a look at this third-party WPF NotifyIcon control , I think it does what you want out of the box, hopefully something like this will be part of WPF in the future. I have used this one before for the exact same reason, and it is really good: you can use standard tooltips or "toast" popups, or create your own which could be just like the one in the example you posted if you wanted.

Answer 2

WPF would be a great place to start. you can make UIs in pure XAML without even touching C#

Here is an example of an "notification" implementation using WPF

Here are some reference links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Presentation_Foundation http://windowsclient.net/wpf/

Answer 3

You should probably look into WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) to design some of the nonstandard UI stuff.

However, I would recommend becoming familiar with UI design in general before diving into nonstandard stuff.

Answer 4

Since you are starting from scratch, I would consider learning WPF rather than Winforms.

Here are two examples are a pop-up notifier in WPF:

• WPF Taskbar Notifier - A WPF Taskbar Notification Window

• PopUp window on a specific time in WPF?

Answer 5

WPF is Definitely what you are looking for if you want something like the image you provided. My project uses notification popups similar to that in the screenshot. Its really simple to get the wanted results after looking at a few samples of others who have done it. If you would like some help, you can send a message my way.