In our previous blog post we talked about how our WPF RibbonWindow has been completely rewritten from scratch using WindowChrome for the next 2012.2 maintenance release.  The post also showed off the new Metro White theme that will be included with our WPF controls, matching the visual appearance of Office 2013.

In today's post, we'll look at another new feature coming in the next maintenance release:  an updated Ribbon Backstage.  In the screenshot below, you can see the new Metro White theme in action along with the updated Backstage visuals.

There are several things of note here.  First, the Backstage has been modified so that when it is open, it will fully cover the RibbonWindow's StatusBar.  This applies to all themes.  For the Metro themes, a large back arrow button has been added to the top left of the Backstage to allow returning to the normal document view.  The ribbon, QAT, etc. also automatically disappear in Metro themes while Backstage is open.

These enhancements will be in the upcoming WPF controls 2012.2 maintenance release build 571.

WindowChrome Usage

In our previous post, we discussed all the great new feature additions coming to our WindowChrome implementation.  Another related item for the upcoming maintenance release is that we've completely reimplemented how RibbonWindow works and now have it using WindowChrome to manage all its custom chrome API calls.

This means that the same implementation of custom chromes will be used for both RibbonWindow and regular windows that use WindowChrome.  You'll get outer glow effects in Metro themes, full Aero snap/dock support, etc.  Everything described in our previous post.

New Metro White Theme

In the first 2012.2 version release, we added a new Metro Light theme that can be applied app-wide to all Actipro and native WPF Controls.  For the upcoming maintenance release, we've added a new Metro White theme that is similar to Metro Light but gives windows and toolbars more of an Office 2013 appearance.  Take a look:

If you are an Actipro customer, once you get the new features you'll be able to toggle the theme to Metro Light and instantly make your ribbon windows and other controls look like the above.  That's really slick!

Summary

These great new features will be part of the next WPF controls 2012.2 maintenance release build 571, due soon.  But that's not all… we have some more major announcements that we'll make for this version soon.