Preparing for new Q2 default skins (updated)

As many of you are probably aware, the default skins for all RadControls are changing in Q2. Zhivko Dimitrov from the Telerik UX team originally introduced the new default skins about a month ago, so you've already had a chance to see what's coming. In short, the new default skins aim to give the RadControls a refreshed look that out of the box is more modern and appealing. We're all very hopeful that you like the new default skins and that they will work well in many of your applications.

That said, if you built your application around the old default skins, you're going to need to take some extra steps when you upgrade to Q2 to preserve the look of your application.

The "old" default skins will be included in RadControl assemblies along with the new default skin. To accommodate this change, the old default skin has been renamed to "Default2006". If you want your controls to use the old default look instead of the updated look, you'll need to explicitly set the "Skin" property to "Default2006". You can easily apply this preference globally by modifying your web.config with a simple application setting. With that single change in the web.config, your application will continue to use the old default skin after you upgrade to Q2 2007.

There are a number of additional new skins coming with many of the controls in Q2, such as Vista and Outlook 2007 skins for RadGrid, so don't forget to check those out, too. Until then, add this "to do" to your upgrade checklist and stay tuned for more Q2 updates.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I misspoke. The Default2006 skin will not be included in the control assemblies. To use the old default skin, you'll need to deploy the RadControls directory to your site with (at minimum) the Default2006 skins folders. To use the skin, you can still follow the advice in the post above. Sorry for the confusion.