If you don't quite like the way how Delphi's default hints look like, you can use THintWindowcomponent to create your own customized hint window. Here's an example:
var h : THintWindow; r : TRect; begin with r do begin // // set the position and size // of the hint window // left := 10; top := 50; right := 200; bottom := 100; end; h := THintWindow.Create( Self ); with h do begin // // set the background color // Color := clRed; ActivateHint( r, 'hi there!' ); // // perform your tasks here // before closing the hint window // MessageBox( 0, 'Press any key to close the ' + 'hint window', 'THintWindow', MB_OK ); ReleaseHandle; Free; end; end;