XP Manifest

Each programing environment has its own particularities and developers are looking to capitalize on all the advantages offered by the IDE they chose to use for creating their applications. Visual Basic 6.0 is still one of the preferred playgrounds for programmers and countless programs based on it are available worldwide.

When it comes to visual styles and looks of the software solutions being built, there are as many preferences as there are developers. Those who want to keep alive the well-known appearance of Windows XP apps can use XP Manifest and integrate it in their projects.

This piece of kit is aimed specifically at Visual Basic developers and its purpose is to bring the Windows XP look inside their apps. By adding XP Manifest to a VB compiled utility the appearance of the target application will be modifiable so as to look like it was running under the now retired Microsoft operating system.

The dedicated manifest file can be turned, with the help of XP Manifest into a resource file and then embedded in the assembly, so as to have it integrated in the project and allow it to give that Windows XP look to the newly created utility.

Inside the main window of this program there is a small example of how the buttons and scroll bars will look once XP Manifest is activated. The actual transformation into the needed Visual Basic resource is quite simple and is explained inside the app as well.

This tool also makes it possible to add a short description to the VB resource that is being generated, as well as the version related information. The process is started with a simple press on the 'Generate' button and the results come in just a couple of moments.