Is the ViewBox the best thing to use to achieve resolution independence in WPF?

Actually, you're quite right. WPF IS resolution independent, but the problem is how you control font sizing.

ViewBoxes should be avoided, because they cost performance, but I think a single one shouldn't hurt anybody.

But beware: It may look right now, but you simply can't display as much information with 640x480 as with 1600x1200... The most elegant solution is to use resolution dependent templates which are demonstratet in the Photo Suru app.

WPF has resolution independence at its core. Its default measurement is in Device Independent Pixels (DIPs), not pixels. Can you explain how this is not working for you, and perhaps provide a very simple example of XAML that is not scaling correctly?