Injecting Common Controls v6 into Pre-XP apps
The main goal of this little experiment was to get really old Windows apps (Common Controls v5) to use a slightly more modern Common Controls v6 (comctl32 v6) style
I tried using GPT-5.5 to make it work. The approach was to use AppInit DLLs to inject a DLL, which then loads a manifest file for comctl32 v6. The problem? You have to disable Secure Boot for that to work, which is not great for a security-wise (I might make a Windhawk mod)
Despite that, as development continued, I realized the concept could be extended further, for example:
- Add high-DPI awareness
- Add dark mode support
Even further, we could theoretically inject XAML Islands into legacy apps still using Common Controls v5/v6, letting them host modern WinUI components. That might actually improve some of Windows UI inconsistency
But honestly, backward compatibility is Windows biggest advantage. Keeping old stuff work while also trying to give it a modern look is really tough. There's a lot to talk about under the hood.