How to launch any application with own UI Design vb.net

Question

I use this code :

Shared Sub OpenApplication(ByVal ApplicationPath As String)
    Dim p As Process
    Dim ShowForm As New Form
    Dim FormPanel As New Panel
    FormPanel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
    ShowForm.Controls.Add(FormPanel)
    p = Process.Start(ApplicationPath)
    Threading.Thread.Sleep(500)
    SetParent(p.MainWindowHandle, FormPanel.Handle)
    ShowForm.Show()
End Sub

but it run the application inside the panel with the border. if i make my own virtual operating system, how do i change the border to none? like windows 7 have their own form border, windows 8 and mac too. but I make my own form border. it's graphic, how can I make the application use my border?

this is some example(i cannot post image) :

Windows 8 Notepad with Their UI Design (it's Form Border for me)

Windows 7 Notepad with Their UI Design

And this is my UI Design :

(sorry I cannot insert more that 2 links, delete space in http:"Space"//)

http: //40-89-67-30-21.weebly.com//files/theme/Notepad.png

how can I Make like this when double click notepad.exe or another .exe file in my virtual os? (this is edited version !) :

http: //40-89-67-30-21.weebly.com//files/theme/Notepad_edited.png

it's run the exe but with my own UI Design. How can I do like that?

I make virtual os with desktop, file explore, taskbar but can open an .exe file. when I open the exe file, if i'm in windows 7 it will use windows 7 UI design but I want to use my own Design. — Izy Coder, Feb 13 '15 at 16:44

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

By default 3rd party applications don't support their re-branding by 4th party developers and even OS-specific coding conventions don't force them to do so, except for support for branding the OS, like respecting system colors, accessibility features etc.

In order to implement this you'd have to do a lots of low-level hacking, intercept UI messages (like WM_NCCALCSIZE or WM_PAINT) etc. or replace complete libraries containing the UI drawing API (like GDI32.DLL) with your own.

All of this requires precise work, good understanding of the various low-level aspects and code well-coordinated with the rest of the system and approximately few thousands of lines of code, including some native (not managed) code.

It's doable, but not simple, see e.g. Stardock's WindowBlinds

How to launch any application with own UI Design vb.net

1 Answers1