Listbox looks worse with Direct2D

I’m experiencing problems with the look of the Direct2D drawing for the Listbox (and not only).

In particular, the checkbox inside a listbox looks much different from the old one and customers are complaining is harder to see (smaller check too).
Plus the text drawing, is harder to read.

I doubt a workaround exists, but maybe something can be done…

See these pictures to compare:

I also described the issues in this feedback case <https://xojo.com/issue/51030>

I guess that it is a matter of taste. I like the 2017 R3 picture better. I also find the 2017 R3 more ligible than the 2016 R3 screen. Now, I am not one of your customers, so my opinion does not count much. :slight_smile:

Out of curiosity, what OS is running on the computer where the screen shots were made?

My experience of Windows is ‘you get what youre given’
I have to deal with many many different machines, and jumping from Windows Xp / 2000/ 7/10 randomly, with or without Aero effects, text scaling etc…
yes its different.
The big question is what do the customer’s OTHER applications look like when doing checkbox in a list?
Has the change made it more homogenous or made it more ‘different’?

Windows10 looks fine.

The picture is from Windows Server 2008 R2

server version of windows always look different from the real windows version. maybe something is missing on the server

Tried on Windows 7 and looks exactly the same. In fact I posted the pictures from Windows 7 (my mistake) but, as I said, they are identical.

let me try my application on windows 7 vm and see if mine look like that

You can always draw it yourself however you like.

I think this is a trend: thing text, lighter color and do not cry: change your glasses ! (if you have troubles to read oldsters or whatever reason).
A real shame for those who suffer from this situation.

This is IMHO.

There are usually settings in modern OSes to cater for the needs of people who need special adjustments. In Windows, it is in ergonomy options (not sure this is the real English name, my Windows is in French). You can set contrast options, magnifying glass, narrator in case you can no longer read the screen, etc. You can also play with the scale factor of your screen, etc. (just right-click on the desktop to reach that option easily) There is much one can do to adapt one’s computer to one’s needs.

In the case of the OP, the shown windows are from a server, or a Windows 7 where the display options were set to basic display only, which turns the clock back to a Windows 2000 appearance. I would be curious to see the same comparison on Windows 7 with the default display options activated. Perhaps it would be the same, I am just curious and cannot test it myself right now.

On my English version, what you describe is in the Control Panel under Appearance and Personalization > Ease of Access. Just in case you wanted to know for future reference.

Yeah, its a bug. I reported it back in March but only noticed it on Windows 10. <https://xojo.com/issue/47420> which was fixed (sorry pre-release tester only ticket).

As mentioned above, it happens with the theme is disabled. This can be easily tested by building the project, hitting properties on the exe, going to compatibility and selecting “Disable visual themes” then running the exe.

I would class this as normal behaviour when someone is using a xojo app via terminal services as themes are quite often disabled by corporate admins to save on bandwidth/cpu by removing all themes.