Free Xceed DataGrid Control for WPF Released

As I mentioned in a post last week, Xceed has decided to release their fully-functional, professional-level WPF DataGrid control completely free. No, this isn't a time-limited or "lite" version of the control...it's the real deal. When you consider that WPF version 1.0 doesn't ship with a data grid control at all, you'll realize that an offer like this is very compelling.

First off, I have to mention the impressive XBAP demo experience they call the Xceed DataGrid for WPF LiveExplorer. It's a great way to quickly experiment with many of the DataGrid features. Xceed has done a polished and professional job here. I'm really starting to love XBAPs. And because I now run Windows Vista, it's a single-click, no install experience. I hope that other vendors follow suit (Actipro has done something similar for their WPF Wizard control).

I like the Theme and View flyouts that appear when you change the UI style. It's great to see someone moving beyond the "battlship grey" days and into something that feels designed. The subtle and effective animations are nice too (and they don't get in the way). I also appreciate the grouping feature and the fact that it supports UI virtualization, a non-trivial bit of functionality that makes a big difference when you're working with large datasets.

Thank you, Xceed, for providing a free DataGrid control that helps fill a feature gap in WPF version 1.0. Great job!

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 25, 2007
  You've been kicked (a good thing) - Trackback from DotNetKicks.com

• Anonymous
  January 29, 2007
  XBAP is sweet and oh the Grid is nice too, have to wonder where Infragistics is with there demo.

• Anonymous
  May 15, 2007
  For real. WPF didn't ship with a DataGrid control in .NET Framework 3.0. The fine folk at Xceed Software