I was intending to create a splash screen like the one sported by Visual Studio 2010 for my desktop application (feel free to use any version of C#/VB.NET/CLR).
(source: msdn.com)
As per the Visual Studio blogs, the splash screen was not developed using WPF since it would involve the CLR and WPF libraries to load causing a substantial delay in application loading. Hence, they reverted to C++ and Win32 stack to do that same for performance reasons.
Is there a feasible option available for Windows Forms or WPF developer to leverage the same branding? The idea is to have similar rich branding in a splash screen without loosing performance and start-up time.
Using PNGs and transparency effects does not help on Windows Forms (a known issue, and I have read related questions on this site for that). Just to emphasise: it’s a splash screen, so start-up time can’t be compromised.
Have a look at Transparent Splash Screen. Or C# Splash Screen.