Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)

The Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), as its name implies, is the new
Microsoft standard for creating user interfaces. WPF is a consolidation of
previously used presentation technologies including Windows Forms, GDI+, Windows
Media Player, and DirectX. WPF provides the following benefits:

• A common platform and environment for developing cutting edge user
  interfaces that combines all previously used Microsoft presentation
  technologies. WPF is capable of interacting with all of the previous
  technologies to aid in progressive application upgrades. All Microsoft
  presentation development going forward should use WPF or the subset of WPF,
  Silverlight.
  
• The ability for developers and designers to work together,
  simultaneously on projects - a result of the proper division of markup from
  code and the correct usage of tools.
  
• A common and standardized technology that can be used for both Windows
  and Web applications. WPF offers the ability to create standalone WPF
  applications which are analogous to Windows Forms applications and to create
  XAML Browser Applications (XBAPs) - the same WPF applications hosted in a Web
  browser and subject to more stringent security settings.

The features included in the WPF standard are:

• A complete application framework integrated into the .NET Framework 3.0
  
• Layout control and user interface controls
  
• Complete support for styles and templates
  
• Advanced text formatting and display capabilities (through ClearType) that
  greatly improve text readability
  
• Support for both fixed layout and flow layout documents and the introduction
  of a brand new fixed document format standard known as the XML Paper Specification (XPS) document standard
  
• Easy display and integration of all image formats, video, audio, 2D
  graphics, 3D graphics as well as graphics transformations and effects and
  animations
  
• Advanced data binding capabilities