Windows shell extension with C#

c# windows-shell shell-extensions
Pete McKinney picture Pete McKinney · Feb 3, 2010 · Viewed 31.4k times · Source

I was wanting to write a simple windows shell extension to add to the context menu, and C# is the language I most use these days. Is it a decent choice for a shell extension? Are the interfaces easy to get to with it? Is there additional overhead that causes the menu to be slower to pop up?

Any one have good pointers for getting started?

Answer

GSerg picture GSerg · Feb 3, 2010

A Raymond's post: Do not write in-process shell extensions in managed code.

A recent follow-up: Now that version 4 of the .NET Framework supports in-process side-by-side runtimes, is it now okay to write shell extensions in managed code?

The bottom line is, no, it is not okay:

The Guidance for implementing in-process extensions has been revised, and it continues the recommendation against writing shell extensions and Internet Explorer extensions (and other types of in-process extensions) in managed code, even if you're using version 4 or higher.

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