>>I would tend to go with your second hypothesis. This would definitely be the easiest to implement.
>
>I haven't looked closely enough at the API calls to say even if it's possible to use the form's hWnd.

It's entirely possible. I've got code floating around somewhere on a box at work that makes forms of various shapes, including elliptical, using the window region API functions.

As for Vlad's observations of the DevCon demo, I can't really say what was going on because I didn't see it, either. However, I don't recall any point in the VFP 7 product cycle when individual controls other than ActiveX containers had their own handle. As (I believe) Craig pointed out, this would take a hefty rewrite, and it wouldn't gain much for the effort.