5 replies to this topic

[Mulsiphix]

I would like to create my own program launcher/custom taskbar for Windows 7. Programs that best outline what kind of features this would have are StarDock's ObjectBar and ObjectDock. These programs are great on their own but due to a lack of development, bugs, and lack of features I desire, I prefer to just create my own.

I do not know any programming language. I am a quick study, have plenty of free time, and am very driven for this particular task. What I am unsure about is what kind of undertaking this would be time wise. Would a "Teach Yourself C#" book and Visual Studio be enough or would a program like this require more specialized learning/reading? Any feedback of any kind would be most appreciated :) .

[WingedPanther]

They strike me as being very difficult to recreate.

[zeroradius]

I agree with WP. Why would you want them anyway. I agree they are useful i used star dock when i had vista, but win7 has a built in dock that works great.

[gaylo565]

When I was an intern we made our own taskbar/program launcher that was used for keeping employees hours while logged into certain tasks on the computer. It had some very custom features and took quite some time to create between myself and a veteran programmer who is much more proficient than I. It can be done but if you really want to make something that will work better than built in or downloadable features you will need to spend quite some time learning as well as coding. Of course we all learn at our own speed.

[Davide]

Since you don't know any programming language, you got little chances to accomplish this task. I suggest to start small and make easy applications in C#, and then make something like the RocketDock that i don't even know how to make, even though i have an idea.

Learn C#, make a calculator, a notepad, etc...
Don't just skip steps, it will make everything harder.

[g-man122]

For thins kind of task, I would recommend C++, C# is managed code, and the way you would do this is by a .DLL you would attach to explorer.exe, like that you can use some of the call's explorer uses. The way I would practice doing this would be to get an image, about 600x70, and make a .DLL to display this image somewhere on the screen (use screen co-ords, I think it's called.)