.NET 8 WinForms News

Add Geographic Data Visualization to Your App

January 9, 2025
Enhance your app with interactive mapping, turning data into engaging visuals that enable intuitive exploration and uncover patterns.

Maps are powerful tools for integrating geographic data and visualizations, enabling users to explore and understand information in a spatial context. With features like zooming, panning, and layering, maps provide an interactive way to analyze data and identify patterns. They support cross-platform compatibility, allowing consistent performance across devices, and can be customized to align with specific branding or design needs.

Several .NET WinForms UI suites offer map components including:

  • DevExpress WinForms lets developers integrate geographical and Cartesian maps with its Map control, supporting diverse data sources and interactive navigation.
  • ComponentOne Studio WinForms by MESCIUS includes a Map control for smooth zooming, panning, and mapping with built-in or custom data sources.
  • Telerik UI for WinForms provides a Map control to visualize geographical data, supporting multiple layers, projections, and customizable features.
  • MindFusion.WinForms Pack by MindFusion Group features a Map component that integrates interactive maps with support for layers and customizable elements.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our comparison of .NET WinForms UI suites.

Compare .NET WinForms UI Suites

Enrich Spreadsheet Data with Image Integration

January 8, 2025
Embedding images enhances spreadsheet data visualization, offering clearer insights and a richer context for decision-making.

Image support within a spreadsheet component allows developers to seamlessly integrate and manipulate images directly within the spreadsheet environment, enabling features such as inserting, resizing, positioning, and formatting images within cells or as background elements. By embedding images alongside numerical or textual data, users can enhance data visualization, streamline report generation, and provide richer context for decision-making, ultimately improving communication and enabling more effective data analysis within applications.

Several WinForms spreadsheet components support inserting images, including:

  • DevExpress WinForms Spreadsheet (part of DevExpress WinForms) seamlessly integrates and manipulates images directly within your spreadsheets.
  • Spread.NET WinForms (part of Spread.NET by MESCIUS) enhances the visual impact of your spreadsheets with the ability to insert, resize and format images alongside your data.
  • Telerik WinForms Spreadsheet (part of Telerik UI for WinForms) adds a new dimension to your data analysis by embedding images within your spreadsheets.
  • MindFusion.Spreadsheet for WinForms by MindFusion Group allows you to use images to create a clear and informative vision of your spreadsheet data.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our WinForms spreadsheet controls comparison.

Compare WinForms Spreadsheet Controls

Improve Accessibility with High Contrast Themes

January 8, 2025
Telerik UI for WinForms 2024 Q4 introduces a visually distinct Windows 11 theme, specifically designed to improve readability and inclusivity.

Telerik UI for WinForms is a comprehensive UI library offering over 160 versatile controls designed to streamline the development of modern, data-rich desktop applications. With features like built-in High DPI support, extensive customization options, and components ranging from grids and charts to schedulers and rich text boxes, it empowers developers to craft visually appealing and feature-packed Windows Forms applications.

The Telerik UI for WinForms 2024 Q4 update introduces the Windows 11 High Contrast Theme, providing developers with an essential tool to enhance accessibility and meet the needs of users with visual impairments or those who prefer high-contrast displays. This new theme aligns with Windows 11's modern design principles, ensuring consistency with the operating system's native appearance. By incorporating this theme, developers can create applications that are both visually appealing and inclusive, addressing diverse user requirements while maintaining seamless integration and ease of implementation within existing projects.

To see a full list of what's new in 2024 Q4, see our release notes.

Telerik UI for WinForms is licensed per developer and is available as a perpetual license with a one year support subscription, which is available in three tiers: Lite, Priority or Ultimate. See our Telerik UI for WinForms licensing page for full details.

Telerik UI for WinForms is available individually or as part of the following products:

Accelerate Modern Development with Templates

December 23, 2024
DevExpress WinForms v24.2 adds a new Project Template Gallery simplifying project creation with ready-to-use templates.

DevExpress WinForms is a comprehensive suite of 190+ UI controls and development tools designed for building high-performance desktop applications. It offers a broad array of customizable controls, from data grids and ribbon interfaces to advanced charts, maps, and diagramming components. This empowers developers to rapidly create functionally rich applications, while adhering to accessibility guidelines and touch-enabled technology for modern Windows environments.

The DevExpress WinForms v24.2 update adds the Project Template Gallery, offering a variety of pre-built project templates tailored for common use cases. It includes layouts such as grid-based, Ribbon, toolbar, and hybrid app designs, enabling developers to quickly set up projects with a solid foundation. The gallery supports .NET Framework and .NET Core, ensuring compatibility with modern development environments like Visual Studio. By reducing setup time and providing ready-to-use project structures, the Template Gallery allows developers to focus on adding functionality and delivering high-quality applications.

To see a full list of what's new in version 24.2, see our release notes.

DevExpress WinForms is licensed per developer and is available as a Perpetual License with a 12 month support and maintenance subscription. See our DevExpress WinForms licensing page for full details.

DevExpress WinForms is available individually or in the following products:

Streamline Design Development with Grid Themes

December 17, 2024
Grid components with theme support facilitate cohesive user interfaces, ensuring consistent branding, and enhanced user trust across platforms.

Customizable themes allow developers to define and manage the visual appearance of applications by modifying elements such as colors, typography, spacing, and component styles to align with specific branding or design requirements. These themes ensure a consistent and professional user interface across all components, simplify the process of applying design changes, and enhance scalability for future updates or multiple projects. By centralizing style management, customizable themes improve development efficiency, reduce redundancy, and enable the creation of accessible and responsive designs that deliver a seamless user experience across devices and platforms.

Several Windows Forms grid components offer support for customizable themes including:

  • DevExpress WinForms Data Grid (part of DevExpress WinForms) lets you customize themes for consistent branding, responsive layouts, and seamless integration.
  • NOV Grid for .NET (part of Nevron Open Vision for .NET) facilitates advanced theming options, enabling detailed control over grid aesthetics for professional user experiences.
  • Telerik UI for WinForms GridView (part of Telerik UI for WinForms) allows you to easily implement cohesive themes, enhancing usability and maintaining a polished design.
  • Syncfusion WinForms DataGrid (part of Syncfusion Essential Studio Enterprise) enables centralized customization of themes, ensuring grids align with brand identity.

For an in-depth analysis of features and price, visit our WinForms grid controls comparison.

Compare .NET WinForms Grid Controls