Does anyone know any kind of framework that enables (not exactly the same, but) Vista's Aero Glass on XP?
I need to develop a little desktop application with WPF, which has a Vista-like UI on XP. I don't need exactly the Aero Glass, some UI like "Windows Live Messenger" will do the thing. Is there any way to make it a reality?
As Stu Mackellar wrote, Windows XP is missing a required piece in order to obtain Aero Glass effect: DWM. A solution is to create your own "fake" glass effect. Thake a look to this blog (you can download the code).
If you really mean Aero Glass then I think you're out of luck. The hardware acceleration required to create this effect is only supported via Vista's new DWM (Desktop Window Manager), which works by compositing multiple windows together into one rendered layer.
If you just want transparency and non-rectangular windows then this can definitely be achieved in XP, as evidenced by the fact that Windows Live Messenger can do it. Have a look at Layered Windows in MSDN.