How to Create Borderless Windows with Advanced Aero Features in Windows?

Implementing Borderless Window with Advanced Aero Features in Windows

Creating borderless windows with advanced features like Aero Snap, shadow, minimization animation, and shake functionality can be challenging. This article presents a solution that mimics the behavior of applications like Office 2013, Visual Studio 2012, and Steam.

HIDING THE WINDOW BORDER

To hide the window's border, respond to the WM_NCCALCSIZE message and return 0 if the window is set as borderless.

<code class="C++">case WM_NCCALCSIZE: {
    if (window->is_borderless) {
        return 0;
    } else {
        return DefWindowProc(hwnd, msg, wparam, lparam);
    }
}</code>

ADDING AN AERO SHADOW

Enable the shadow by extending the frame into the client area using DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea:

<code class="C++">MARGINS borderless = {1,1,1,1};
DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea(hwnd, &amp;borderless);</code>

CONFIGURING WINDOW STYLES

To ensure the shadow and other features work correctly, the window style should include WS_POPUP | WS_THICKFRAME | WS_MINIMIZEBOX | WS_MAXIMIZEBOX | WS_CAPTION.

CAVEAT AND TIPS

DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea may cause a frame to appear in the client area when drawing images with an alpha channel. To resolve this, place a non-transparent widget or brush behind the transparent elements.

  +-----------------+
  |                |
  |XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|
  |             X  |
  |             X  |
  |             X  |
  |            XXXXX|
  |                |
  |                |
  +-----------------+

CONCLUSION

By following these steps, developers can create borderless windows with Aero Snap, shadow, minimization animation, and shake functionality. The example project provided demonstrates the implementation of these features.

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