Aero Glass works fine on Windows 7, but doesn't work on Vista

Question

To use Aero Glass in my C# application I use

if {DWM.DwmIsCompositionEnabled())
{
    Color c = Color.FromArgb(255, 221, 220, 220);
    Transparency Key = c;
    panel1.BackColor = c;
    panel2.BackColor = c;
    MARGINS mr = new MARGINS();
    mr.T = 1800;
    IntPtr h = Handle;
    int result = DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea(h, ref mr);
}

In the designer:

[DllImport("dwmapi.dll")]
public static extern int DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea(
    IntPtr h
    ref MARGINS p
};
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public strict MARGINS
{
    public int T;
}

It works beautifully fine on Windows 7, but on Vista the panels are black instead of transparent. Is Aero Glass on Vista different from the one on 7?

Edit: To the person who -1 this post, because you hate Vista or what? You know as a developer you should make sure that your software runs on as many operating systems as possible to ensure that more people use it.

Do other windows on Vista (e.g. Notepad or Explorer) show up fine? Another thing: Am I safe in assuming you are using Windows Forms? — Ming Slogar, Feb 17 '14 at 00:14

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 16 '14 at 20:53

1

The MARGINS structure should be:

[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public strict MARGINS
{
    public int cxLeftWidth;
    public int cxRightWidth;
    public int cyTopHeight;
    public int cyBottomHeight;
}

DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea should be supported in Vista. I assume that Win7 is just being more tolerant of the truncated structure. Be very careful with unmanaged data types.

answered Feb 16 '14 at 20:53

Iain Ballard

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Can you give more context? What have you tried and how have you set up the window in question? – Iain Ballard Feb 16 '14 at 21:09
I added the code you gave me and debugged my application on Vista. It still has black instead of transparent panels. – CCCP Feb 16 '14 at 21:12

Aero Glass works fine on Windows 7, but doesn't work on Vista

1 Answers1