I´m working on a project that (for my first time) needs a lot of painting to a panel (Painting a Bitmap of 600x400 Pixel). GDI lacks of speed. It takes about 10 seconds to do the painting each time. I also need a lot of GUI-Stuff, esp. Buttons Now i´m looking for an alternative MDX is to be discontiued in the future... XNA lacks of a GUI and I want to get progress on my project and do not want to programm my own GUI. WPF looks promising. I got 3 questions about WPF, maybe anybody can answer: 1. what about the graphic speed of WPF? is it comparable to MDX (in 2d-stuff)? 2. is it complicated to use .net2.0-stuff (WinForms) beside WPF. Then I could continue with my WinForm-Layout an use WPF just for painting... 3. is there a good wpf-book that you recommend? thanks in advance. bra10

I've used it for the past couple months. I like the way it is designed and all the freedom it gives, but it has a brutal learning curve.

1. Performance is much better than WinForms. Specialized solutions using D3D/MDX/XNA would probably be faster, but WPF provides you with an extensive retained-mode vector drawing framework with the D3D legwork under the hood. Make some custom-template buttons as a prototype stress test and see whether it's fast enough.

2. WinForms integration is easy - Use ElementHost to host a WPF control, WindowsFormsHost for a WinForms control (Child property).

3. I read this one. It introduces concepts in C# and shows how they translate to XAML.

If you want top-notch GUI/vector capabilities with possible limitations/performance issues in high-end applications, go for it. Keep in mind that at this time D3D and WPF must be kept separate. You can't share screen space or directly share surfaces. If you go with WPF, you may spend a lot of time frustrated and struggling, but you'll have a powerful GUI.

Pick up the Orcas beta or Expression Blend.

Good luck!

thanks a lot slack!

At the moment I am working with Visual C# 2005 EE plus XNA game Studio. Do I get conflicts if I install Orcas beside the Express Edition + XNA GSE?

bra10

I'm making a game using WPF, bit hard to get started, but once you get going it's really good.

I'm hoping more people start using it for games, looking forward to seeing some cool things.

I have been working at a combination of WPF (for the UI/controls) and SlimDX
Even transparent on top of eachother since .NET 3.5 sp1

So yes, it is totally feasible.

I created a SlimDX control to be used in a WPF application. It isn't finished yet but I am getting there.

Look here