The Last Word
GDI+ controls represent the fusion of two remarkable new features: the nextgeneration drawing framework GDI+, and .NET's simple and elegant class-based control development. The potential for owner drawn .NET controls is limitless, and major tool vendors have already begun developing .NET equivalents for common UI widgets like advanced scrollbars and image controls. Look for these on the Internet—some are even available to experiment with at no cost.If you want to master control development, the best approach is to review as many code examples as possible. There's no limit to what you can accomplish with dedication and a little ingenuity, but owner-drawn controls can require as much sheer code as a basic sales ordering database application. Microsoft, on its MSDN home page, provides several control samples that range from quirky and useless to genuinely groundbreaking.The next chapter shifts the focus to a new topic: integrating Help into your .NET applications, and creating intelligent interfaces.