Modern Desktop UI Effects Without WPF or Third-Party Libraries

WinForms doesn’t have to look old — and in this series, I’ll prove it.

In Episode 1, we build a modern hover glow button from scratch using WinForms on .NET 10 and Visual Studio 2026.
No WPF. No XAML. No third-party UI libraries.

This video is the foundation for an entire Control Effects series, where we create reusable, high-performance visual effects like glow, neon, motion, and animated UI feedback — all using pure WinForms.

✨ What you’ll learn in this episode
How to create a smooth hover glow effect in WinForms
How to use custom painting (GDI+) for modern UI visuals
How to structure effects so they are reusable and extensible
How to build a clean GlowEffect base architecture used in future episodes
How modern .NET 10 improves WinForms performance and rendering

🚀 Why modern .NET WinForms?

WinForms itself isn’t outdated — the old runtime was.
With modern .NET (and especially .NET 10), WinForms gets:
Better performance
Improved DPI handling
Modern tooling in Visual Studio 2026
A future-proof runtime
Everything you see here works with the WinForms API you already know.

🔥 This series is for you if:
You think WinForms can’t look modern
You want CSS-like visual effects (glow, pulse, trails) in desktop apps
You want full control without external UI frameworks
You care about clean, reusable code, not hacks

▶️ Need a Good Start to C# & Visual Studio 2026?
   • 🎯 C# & WinForms Masterclass 2026  

If you ever thought “WinForms can’t do that” — this series will change your mind.

👍 Like, subscribe, and let’s bring modern UI effects to WinForms.


☕ Buy me a Coffee (Channel Support through Donation)
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...

▬ About this Channel ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
My goal is to make your life easier, specifically when it comes to learning software development.

With this channel I would like to share my knowledge of what I have learned in the last 10 years professionally as well as in private in the programming world with you.
I will focus mostly on C# and Unity. With some small side trips to SQL and API's.

A channel dedicated to programming, technology and game development tutorials.
#Assharpdev

▬ Some Helpful Stuff▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Here are some good books in my opinion, some of which I own myself.
Since I speak German as well as English, books for both languages are available.
However, I think that it is a great advantage to know the English language, especially in terms of programming.

With the order over the links no additional costs occur to you,
However you would support my channel with it because the links are paid affiliate links. You will not have any additional costs if you use my links.

English language books
Head First C Sharp #: https://amzn.to/3F2DSPZ
Visual Studio 2022 In-Depth: https://amzn.to/3lrdOqX
Learning C# by Developing Games with Unity 2019: https://amzn.to/40hfjqr
Xamarin with Visual Studio: https://amzn.to/3FvdqPh

German language books
Einstieg in C# mit Visual Studio 2022: https://amzn.to/3J09VRM
Spiele entwickeln mit Unity 5: https://amzn.to/3JKfLIq
Cross-Plattform-Apps mit Xamarin.Forms entwickeln: https://amzn.to/3TpWGhX

The most important tool for programming: :-)
Just kidding however I have the previous one and I'm very happy with it.
Philips 5400 Serie Volautomatic espresso machine: https://amzn.to/3mGT9j5

(The links are paid affiliate links. You will not have any additional costs).

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬