Windows Aero is the graphical user interface for Windows Vista, an operating system released by Microsoft in November 2006. Its name is an acronym (or backronym) for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and Open. Intended to be a cleaner, more powerful, more efficient and more aesthetically pleasing user interface, it includes new transparencies, live thumbnails, live icons, animations and eye candy. It replaces the Luna visual theme which popularized its predecessor, Windows XP. Aero also encompasses a set of user interface design guidelines for Microsoft Windows.

See also Windows Vista

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Please include any experiences you have with Aero.

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jdp - Well, since Aero uses the same theme API as Luna, the Ttk theme xpnative gives you a lot of the Aero look and feel. However, it is also possible to have transparent areas inside the window which link seamlessly to the window border - Windows Media Player (11 or 12 on Vista or 7) is a good example. Is it possible to do this in Tk? The results are really slick and would go a long way to making Tk apps look completely integrated with Vista and Windows 7.

jdp - In the ever-amusing pastime of answering one's own questions, it is indeed possible to do this in Tk windows. I have written a small (and rough) DLL which provides this functionality. It's called TkAero, and is (obviously) only available for Windows.

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