>We use the windows default as well. And our older DOS apps use the boring gray with a little white and blue to look as much like windows default as possible. Users that spend long periods at the screen appreciate the dull colors as easier on the eyes. We do add a little color for special purposes, but even then adopt a minimalist approach to color.

I'd like to correct the general opinion a bit, if possible. The controls should use system defaults, as set by the user, which doesn't necessarily mean gray. I keep my desktop in shades of blue, and most of the controls in various apps (VFP or not) look pretty neat, but every once in a while something pops up using the awful gray. I wrote this in intentionally biased way, trying to represent an average user's attitude towards an app which forces its own colors over his own choice.

Another sidenote: my FPD screens are bright white on dark blue, alerts are white on red, logo is bright blue. This is configurable, but actually it always runs in these colors, and we've never ever done a gray version. Once we show an almost b/w screen, an average user says "why ain't the damn color working? I've paid extra for a color monitor!".