@Marcus: GDI+ can also be used to load PNG resources, you would only have to ship the gdiplus.dll with your application. libpng/zlib is just an other option.

Office 2007 and Vista also uses PNG for its icons. Currently LCDs have a resolution of 96 DPI but soon we will have 240/320 DPI screens and then uncompressed bitmaps are unuseable, or would you like to have 15 MB of Ribbon bitmaps?

Marcus wrote: A lot of developers, like me, prefer clean, simple, self-contained solutions! Adding unnecessary dependencies will only bloat and complicate everything!

What would be the problem if libpng/zlib are added to the workspace? There would just be 2 additionally projects and you could compile the toolkit as always and get a lib or dll. That doesn't complicate anything.

Oh, please don't start using additional libraries like zlib in the toolkit!

A lot of developers, like me, prefer clean, simple, self-contained solutions! Adding unnecessary dependencies will only bloat and complicate everything!

oleg, the non-alpha Office2007_RibbonGroups.bmp has increased the performance alot, although it is still noticeable slower. Thanks.

I understand that alpha bitmaps make it easier to support different color schemes without changing the bitmaps and that there would be a size increase if you would make a set of bitmaps for each color scheme, but have you considered to use PNGs for the graphics? libpng and zlib can be used for free, even in commercial products.

That would reduce the graphics size from about 1.4 MB to 200 KB without any losses. You can also use GDI+ to load PNG resources.

http://www.codeproject.com/bitmap/PNGView.asp

http://www.codeproject.com/vcpp/gdiplus/cgdiplusbitmap.asp

Sample (compiled by myself) Seems to work here, too. (I don't have Office 2007 installed)

Pentium 3.2GHz, 1GB RAM, WinXP SP2 (en), GeForce 6600GT (PCI-X), Samsung SyncMaster 204Ts (LCD via DVI)

ok, we will try to optimize ggraphic to remove alpha layer from some bitmaps. Largest is Office2007_RibbonGroups.bmp so will start from it.

Can you uplease

1. download these bitmaps:

2006-06-10_101439_pack.zip

replace them in Source/Ribbon/res folder,

2. open sampe, replace

void CMainFrame::RecalcLayout(BOOL bNotify /* = TRUE */)
{
 CXTPFrameWnd::RecalcLayout(bNotify);
 Invalidate(FALSE);
}

to

void CMainFrame::RecalcLayout(BOOL bNotify /* = TRUE */)
{
 CXTPFrameWnd::RecalcLayout(bNotify);
// Invalidate(FALSE);
}

it decrease perfomance a lot.

3. rebuild sample and check perfomance.

Thanks

gshawn wrote: Windows Server 2003 SP1

We've only tested it on 2000 and XP, on 9 different workstations and laptops, there was a huge performance penality on 5 of them and it runs great on 4. The only thing that they have in common is that those 5 have LCDs and the other 4 CRTs.

It was also independently tested by a customer, "I tried it here at home on my laptop and it's lagging something awful! This PC is about the same as the one I have at work, 2.8Mhz, 512mb, but it has a LCD that I'm running at 1400x1050 32bit. I notice when I move around the ribbon where the highlight should follow me, the CPU usage goes to 100%."

We've a bit of a problem here

Just tried it here and it runs great, sorry...

Acer AL1916A 19" LCD
Windows Server 2003 SP1
Athlon XP 2500+
ATI 9800 Pro via DVI

The compiled Ribbon sample runs great in either 16-bit or 32-bit; I was unable to notice any slowdowns. I'm at a loss as to what to try next... Are there any specific tests or files versions you would like me to check?