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I am not a big fan of Windows 8 itself but I quite like the new look of it and it's new companion Windows 10.

Is there a simple change that I can do or a different standard component bank that I can use to give my WPF application a flat, and non 3D look using the following?

  1. Developing a WPF in Visual Studio 2013
  2. Under Windows 7

Obviously without going into a trouble of changing a template for each component or use 3rd party collections.

PS: Is there a specific name for such a User Interface?

Examples

I can mention the new CCleaner interface in the latest update:

enter image description here

Or UI's such as the one below in this article

enter image description here

Mehrad
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  • Your second example has the Windows 8 look because it's running in Windows 8 ;) – Thomas Levesque Nov 26 '14 at 23:55
  • That's correct. However I though I would take a different path in starting the project it might end up like that one despite the running OS. – Mehrad Nov 27 '14 at 00:10

2 Answers2

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There is no built in way to do this.

If you want the "App" look, There is the M:UI open source project (disclaimer, I've heard it has some bugs): https://mui.codeplex.com/

The look itself is called "Modern UI".

Your second graphic is standard WPF, just run in Windows 8. Clearly the default styling changed between the two. If thats what you are looking for, you will likely need to generate your own styles.

Related: Making WPF applications look Metro-styled, even in Windows 7? (Window Chrome / Theming / Theme)

Community
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BradleyDotNET
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  • I don't think that's what the OP wants; M:UI brings Modern UI concepts to WPF, but it's not the normal look of a desktop app on Windows 8 (which is what the OP is asking) – Thomas Levesque Nov 26 '14 at 23:57
  • @ThomasLevesque You think he wants the second picture, not the "App" look? Hmmm... that is different. Doesn't really change the answer, but I should clarify it. – BradleyDotNET Nov 26 '14 at 23:58
  • @ThomasLevesque Looking through the M:UI screen shots, *some* of the controls could be used to help generate the Windows 8 "desktop" look as well. – BradleyDotNET Nov 27 '14 at 00:01
  • Donno how on earth I missed that question you mentioned. My first search was the same title word by word :). I am not too fussy about the look but I don't want my components contradict each others look. I have done a very modern looking template for my `ListView` and that raised edges gray looking `Checkbox` is just doesn't look right on the side + all the `textbox` I'm gonna use for earch and etc. I have also had an experience using 3rd party components but the problem is when they drop the project you end up with a silly bug to deal with. However, I am very tempted to try M:UI. – Mehrad Nov 27 '14 at 00:07
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    @Mehrad No problem. I actually googled "Windows 8 control templates for windows 7 WPF" to get the related question. Ping me in chat if you need any help, though I'll be out for long stretches due to Thanksgiving :) – BradleyDotNET Nov 27 '14 at 00:11
  • @BradleyDotNET, would you suggest to go with the first answer for the question you pointed out which is creating my own Window and Style or the second choice now that there isn't a simple approach for this? – Mehrad Nov 27 '14 at 00:13
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    @Mehrad Ah, the classic dilemma. Honestly, I would take a *small* amount of time; maybe a day, and see if M:UI is going to provide enough of the look I want. If it does, go with that. Rolling your own Window/Style gives you all the power, but is just as sensitive to bugs, and is a **ton** of work. I'd strongly consider doing it, but only if I had a good reason to reject the "easy" path. – BradleyDotNET Nov 27 '14 at 00:16
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Try Mahapps Metro. It's very pupular opensource metro-ui library.

Rahul
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