The UX Team at Nukeation has created yet another breakthrough theme: Sleek! In the tradition of our previous themes such as Discovery and Odyssey we are again pushing the limits of themeing with this slick and sleek new theme.
With our new Silverlight 2.0 compatible DropShadow system, previously unavailable effects like the drop shadows seen in the screenshot will be available in Silverlight just like in WPF.
Reuxables Subscribers will get access to the WPF theme after 12pm PST on Friday 22, May 2009. Both WPF and Silverlight themes will be publicly available near the end of May.
Odyssey, Expressive, and Glass are now available for Silverlight 2.0! Check out the demo >>
Subscribers can now download these themes in the Subscribers Download Area.
Contact us for more information.
We are proud to announce the release of our first batch of themes for Silverlight 2.0!
Paper, Candy, and Edge have been extended to Silverlight 2.0! Check out the demo >
Over the course of the next few weeks, the rest of the Reuxables catalog will be extended to support Silverlight 2.0 as well! The next wave will include Glass, Expressive, Odyssey, and Ballistic with an expected release around May 8, 2009.
All Silverlight 2.0 themes have almost exactly the same features as their WPF versions, except for the technology specific differences. These themes also support the Silverlight Toolkit on CodePlex. See the FAQ section for details.
You can purchase the Silverlight themes from the Reuxables Catalog. Existing Subscribers can login into the Subscription Downloads area to download the themes immediately.
And lastly, with the Silverlight themes becoming a part of the Reuxables Subscription, you save over $500 by choosing the subscription over individual purchases.
We are happy to announce that all Reuxables WPF themes now support the Microsoft WPF Toolkit on CodePlex! As the Toolkit evolves, we will be extending our themes to be fully compatible with the new controls. Currently, only the stable controls are supported, such as the DataGrid, Calendar and DatePicker controls.
NOTE: The Toolkit theme extensions are unsupported as the Toolkit itself is not up to release specifications.
To get the Toolkit Theme Extensions:
- Login into the subscription area and download the theme.
- Use the download link in your original purchase receipt.
- All new purchases have the Extensions inside the theme itself.
If you haven’t received your login information (both subscribers and individual purchase customers), or need help with anything please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Please see this FAQ item for more information on using the Extension.
We are providing special rates for academic institutions, students, .NET user groups, and other developer communities, as well as volume purchases. Additionally, Microsoft MVPs and Regional Directors qualify for free copies of nukeationMachine Single Technology Editions, and a 50% discount on the Ultimate Edition and Reuxables products.
Microsoft MVPs and RDs can check the private newsgroup for details of this offer.
Please contact us for more information.
The Nukeation Team has been working on our plans for the immediate future and beyond, and we wanted to share them with you. As April comes to an end, we are getting ready to launch some exciting new products and starting work on the next generation.
In March, we launched Machine 1.0 for Visual Studio 2008, as well as the Reuxables Second Generation.
Reuxables + Silverlight + WPF Toolkit Support
Near the end of this month, we will release WPF Toolkit support for all our WPF themes (yes, you will all get to style your DataGrid now!), along with Silverlight 2.0 versions of our core themes (Candy, Fusion, Frog, Glass, Metal, Paper). All themes will cover the SL 2.0 Toolkit, and we will provide updates with each revision of the Toolkit as they become available.
In May, we will release Silverlight versions of the remainder of our themes, and betas of the themes Slick, Nostalgia, and Paper II will be made available to the Subscribers.
All our Silverlight versions will be available at the same prices as the WPF versions. Combined purchases will also be available at massive discounts. Existing same-theme customers can pay the difference to purchase a SL version of the theme (and vice-versa).
Subscribers will get the SL versions at no additional cost.
MultiTouch + Reuxables
In Q3 2009, we will publish our unique Multi-Touch and NUX oriented Reuxables aimed at the Windows 7 generation and multi-touch environments. These Reuxables will not be mere themes but complete UX Kits with custom controls, augmented standard controls, and unique User Experiences that can be operated with tactile hand movement.
Machine 1.5 and 2.0
In Q2 2009, Machine will be moved up to Version 1.5 featuring new powerful features:
Organize UI Bits into categories
UI Bits are now organized into Common, Input, Business, Miscellaneous, Imported and Personal categories. Categories can be redefined and reorganized, and additional categories added.
Favorite UI Bits management
Mark favorite UI Bits across all categories and be able to quickly select from an exclusive Favorites list.
Expandable Family Structure
UI Bits with additional or extended variations are now grouped into families and visible only when explicitly selected. For example, the UI Bits Border1Thickness , Border2Thickness, Border3Thickness, and so on would be grouped into a single Border1Thickness UI Bit. If click the Expand icon next to the UI Bit list entry, you get a pop-out with the additional variations of the same family.
Faster search
The search system was rebuilt from the ground up for faster performance on both x86 and x64 platforms.
Full X/D/HTML Support
The ASP.net portion now fully supports HTML in Visual Studio.
Network Sharing for team based development
With a special module for the Ultimate Edition, teams working on a network environment can share UI Bits across the entire team using a central Machine Repository. When a network repository is not available, the library reverts to the local offline cache, allowing individuals to work while disconnected.
Individual UI Bits Import/Export
Single UI Bits can be exported as self-contained .uib files, and shared with other nukeationMachine users.
In Q3/Q4 2009, the third generation Machine (2.0) will be released for Visual Studio 2010, Expression Blend 2.0 and 3.0*, and Expression Web 2.0 and higher*. The Expression editions of Machine will feature unprecedented designer tools for making a UI more quickly and efficiently. We intend to release a working public beta in the next couple of months!
* Machine release dates and features for currently unreleased versions of Expression products is only estimated.
Lastly: Discounts in April, May, and June!
If you are a MSDN Magazine reader, pick up your copy and find our ad. You will find a nice little discount code. :) Enjoy!
Posted on
April 21, 2009 11:42
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Sometimes you just can’t let go of a good thing. A little while ago we made an announcement that we will not be pursuing the release of Silverlight themes as we wanted to focus on just WPF. After that we got so many requests (and some threats) to reconsider that decision, that we decided to expand our staff and our plans, and now we have decided that we will be offering Silverlight versions of our WPF themes.
This last weekend of April, we will be releasing Silverlight versions of Paper, Candy, Glass, and Edge! More themes will soon follow.
At the same time, we will be releasing new updates of our existing WPF Themes with WPF Toolkit support, starting with DataGrid, Calendar, and DatePicker themeing. We will continue to expand on this as the WPF Toolkit itself progresses.
And if you are still looking for some really cool free themes, check out the WPF Toolkit themes at CodePlex – they were designed by the Reuxables team – so you can expect the same kind of code structure, robustness, and visual coolness that you find in Reuxables.
Former Alpha Pack customers who chose not to upgrade to the Super Pack and subsequently to the Subscription system, can take advantage of this limited time offer and upgrade to a Reuxables Subscription for only the upgrade price – a $400+ discount!
This offer is open until April 30, 2009. To take advantage of this offer please email us.
The Ballistic theme is our sharpest and cleanest “Web 2.0” style theme. At $49, it is also our most affordable theme. It combines swift animations with a very light memory footprint. You can expect great performance even on older computers. The colors for Ballistic were selected by experts to provide long-term comfort to the end-users’ eyes.
Find out more >>
Subscribers and former Super Pack customers can find Ballistic in the subscribers download area.
As a more efficient way to provide updates and additional resources to all our customers, we have integrated a new download area for all Reuxables customers within the subscription system.
You can login to the private downloads area and get the latest builds of your purchased products anytime. Subscribers are able to access normal released products as well as beta products and pre-beta previews of upcoming products.
Your account details have already been sent to your registered email address. If you did not receive the email, please check your junk folder or email us.
All Super Pack customers will be getting their subscription login details today. Again, contact us if you do not receive your email within 48 hours. Or if you’re way too anxious and need it right now! :)
We have been working on a new theme for Q2 2009 phase called Ballistic. Along with Paper II (yes, our most popular theme is getting a fully revamped look!), Nostalgic, and Slick, Ballistic will be part of our “Phase 3” offerings.
Ballistic has a distinct Web 2.0 visual style and very soothing color palette. The theme comes in 4 different color schemes, all designed by User Experience experts to provide comfort to the end-user’s eyes even if they work long hours in the software.
Ballistic will be available this weekend for all our Reuxables Subscribers, and to the general public a week after that. Over the next few weeks, we will be publishing live previews of Codename: Slick, Codename: Nostalgia, and of course Paper II.
You can now get Metallic, a lightweight version of the Metal theme, for free!
More information is available on the Reuxables site. And don’t forget, Incy is still free too!
Next free theme?
We have made Incy and Metallic free, but we are not stopping there. What theme do you think should be the next free theme? Post your opinion in the comments. We promise we will listen. :)
During the development of Machine, we constantly kept testing how fast developers could create their UI with Machine when compared to using the VS toolbox. Here are the numbers we came up with.
Below is a practical example of how a whole UI can be created in 3 simple clicks:
The dialog shown above, was designed in WPF using nukeationMachine. Only 3 clicks were required to create this dialog, using the UI Bits: OKCancelBrowse, TableLayoutGroup, TableSize.
Efficiency Statistics
| Type of Form | Vs2008 | Machine | Time saved | Efficiency |
| Simple Login Dialog | 0:01:35 | 0:00:50 | 45 seconds | 47% |
| Advanced Login Dialog | 0:02:20 | 0:01:15 | 55 seconds | 46% |
| Typical Complex Business Form | 0:20:00 | 0:12:21 | 7 min 39 sec | 38% |
| Outlook 2008 style Contact Dialog | 0:15:20 | 0:01:20 | 14 minutes | 90% |
| Creating typical buttons (e.g.: OK/Cancel) | 0:00:12 | 0:00:01 | 11 seconds | 92% |
| Average business application with 50 forms | 16:33:00 | 9:47:00 | 6 hrs 46 min | 59% |
Average Design Efficiency with nukeationMachine: 59% These statistics are based on users who are new to nukeationMachine. Familiarity with the software can produce up to 70% efficiency according to our studies.
How do I change themes from code?
Use the following code to change themes from code. Replace the filename of the ResourceDictionary with the appropriate filename.
Visual Basic
Application.Current.Resources.MergedDictionaries.Clear()
Dim UX As New Uri("Themes/MY_THEME_FILE.xaml", UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute)
Dim RD As New ResourceDictionary()
RD.Source = UX
Application.Current.Resources.MergedDictionaries.Add(RD)
C# Application.Current.Resources.MergedDictionaries.Clear();
Uri UX = new Uri("Themes/MY_THEME_FILE.xaml", UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);
ResourceDictionary RD = new ResourceDictionary();
RD.Source = UX;
Application.Current.Resources.MergedDictionaries.Add(RD);
When I apply the theme, it does not show the background color as shown in the demo.
All Reuxables Themes ship with a special brush called "WindowBackgroundBrush". Bind your Window or Page root element's Background property, and you will get the appropriate background.
<Grid Background="{DynamicResource WindowBackgroundBrush}">
More FAQs at http://www.nukeation.com/reuxables.aspx?id=faq
Today we have several announcements to make:
New release: nukeationMachine
nukeationMachine for Visual Studio 2008 is now available to the public. Put simply, nukeationMachine provides UI Snippets functionality to Visual Studio 2008. You can use it for WPF, Windows Forms, and ASP.NET. Try it out – you will never want to go back to the toolbox again. :)
Check out the new website with new lists of feature and videos at http://www.nukeation.com/machine.aspx.
A free evaluation is available for download.
If you purchased under the Early Adoption Program, please download the package again and you will get the full RTM build.
New release: Edge and Inc
Reuxables, along with Machine, have moved to their new home at www.nukeation.com – our consolidated website with better navigation, more features, and a little cooler design. :) Two new additions to Reuxables are Inc and Edge, our new theme offerings for WPF. Reuxables Subscriptions are now available for purchase.
Head on over to the new site www.nukeation.com/reuxables.aspx for details.
Update: Reuxables 2.0 – what’s new?
While we add new themes, we have also spent some time bringing the old themes up to date with a full overhaul. These changes include:
- Enhanced ProgressBar animations
- Icon support and styling for MenuItems
- Toolbar controls consolidated
- Enhanced states for all controls
- All styles updated for .NET 3.5 SP1
- DropShadows replaced with new Effects
- Editable ComboBox style updated to match TextBox
- Enhanced ListView ColumnHeader
- Several shared resources are now consolidated for better performance
- Minor bug fixes
- All themes (except Discovery and Odyssey) are now fully XBAP compatible
- Performance enhancements
Former Super Pack customers, who are now upgraded to our subscription system, can just go to their original download link and download the package again to get Odyssey, Inc, and Edge.
If you purchased a single theme, just go and download the theme again and you will get the updated version.
In case of trouble, feel free to contact us at info [at] nukeation [dot] com.
Free themes: Incy + WPF Toolkit
We are going to keep Incy free forever! Tell your friends to go to http://www.nukeation.com/reuxables.aspx?id=incy to get their copy. And in the near future, we will add more free themes.
You may have previously read about the themes we designed for Microsoft for the Silverlight 2.0 Toolkit. We have migrated (or rather, recreated from scratch) the same themes and several others for WPF! You can download the WPF Toolkit on CodePlex!
All Reuxables Themes will get WPF Toolkit support in April with Reuxables 2.1.