
While recent blog posts have focused on the new company web site we just launched over the weekend, we also published a new 2012.1 version of all our WinForms Controls at the same time. In an older post, we described what was coming in this version. Let me summarize the updates.
Complete Restructuring and Realignment of Products
One of the largest goals of this version was to get all our WinForms controls restructured and aligned with our other WPF and Silverlight controls. This involved the creation of a new WinForms Studio bundle that is similar to the former UIStudio product but includes SyntaxEditor and Wizard as well. The former UIStudio product is no more, but its contained assemblies have been split up into three individual products (Bars, Docking/MDI, and Navigation) that can be purchased individually or as part of WinForms Studio.
Now all WinForms controls are distributed in a single WinForms platform download. This involved the creation of unified sample projects, documentation, licensing mechanisms, and installer. More details are available in this previous post.

This screenshot shows our new sample browser project that ships with the WinForms controls.
Migration to .NET 3.5 and VS 2010 Projects
For the 2012.1 version, we've migrated the minimum required framework to .NET 3.5. Of course the products will work fine in .NET 4.0 or later as well.
The product source projects are all VS 2010 projects now, and samples are distributed in VS 2010 and VS 2008 format.
.NET 3.5/4.0 Client Profile Support
One of the largest updates that will benefit our customers is that we've moved all product Visual Studio designer functionality into separate assemblies. Thus we were able to remove the dependency on System.Design.dll from our main product assemblies.
This means that in 2012.1, all our WinForms products support .NET 3.5/4.0 client profile distribution.
Easy to Upgrade
Implementing all of the above changes was a pretty large effort, especially for the restructuring/realignment pieces. We wanted to make this version easy to upgrade to for any prior version WinForms customers so there are minimal breaking changes from the previous versions' latest maintenance releases.
Effectively if you already use the latest maintenance releases of the previous versions and you are targeting .NET 3.5 or later in your app, all you have to do is license the new version (see below), swap in the new assemblies, update your licenses.licx file, and you should be good to go. We have a conversion topic in the documentation that provides details on how to handle any other breaking changes you are unlikely to but might encounter.
Purchase and Upgrade Options
Free Upgrades
For any customer who has an active subscription to a WinForms control right now, contact our sales team via e-mail and request a free upgrade to the 2012.1 version.
Purchase Option Changes and Savings
Our license purchase options have changed in this version to match how we license our WPF and Silverlight products. It's now simpler and less expensive too! Now each new license purchase automatically includes a free annual subscription and we didn't increase the price on the new licenses for SyntaxEditor or Wizard. Since UIStudio controls can now be purchased individually, this can save you money if you only needed our Bars product for example. Also as mentioned above, we now have a new WinForms Studio bundle option that includes all our WinForms control products (excludes SyntaxEditor add-ons) for one low cost and includes free subscriptions as well.
Special Offer
We want to get you set up with the latest and for cheaper. If you are an existing WinForms control customer and would like to get the new 2012.1 version but don't qualify for the free upgrades mentioned above, you normally would have to pay full price for a new license to upgrade.
From now until June 30, 2012, we'd like to offer a special offer where you can just order a renewal instead of a new license and we'll give you the new version and a restarted subscription from the day you order.
If you have any questions, please contact our sales team via e-mail and we'll be happy to help.
Enjoy the new version!
