How can I make a Enso style application in C#

Question

The background should be transparent, but the text should not.

Answer 1

Enso is open source too.

You can directly peek at they source code.

http://code.google.com/p/enso/

Let us know how they do it when you find out!.

UPDATE

It looks like they use something called Cairo. If you can link it from C# you're done.

Answer 2

By making an "Enso style" application you mean the Enso launcher?

Here is a screenshot of it: alt text http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2en/68000/68880/3_ensolauncher03.jpg

I would suggest at looking at the open-source C# Cropper application. He does a similar looking GUI with transparent background. You can open up his project and see how he implements it.

alt text http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/726/cropperuijt3.png

Answer 3

You can set the background color, and transparency key properties to the same color and that will make the background transparent. The rest of the control items will stay non-transparent, as long as they are different colors.