title: Opening an about box using MVVM pattern
body: <p>I'm working on a new WPF application and I'm trying to stay as close to the MVVM pattern as I can.  My XAML files right now have no codebehinds, and all my interactivity is achieved using Josh Smith's RelayCommand class and commands in my ViewModel classes.</p>
  
  <p>This worked great until I started working on the housekeeping tasks, such as an about box and a system preferences page.  I want to have these as modal dialogs, but if I create a RelayCommand to open these pages, I'll be creating a dependency on the view within my view model.</p>
  
  <p>This strikes me as against the grain of the MVVM pattern.</p>
  
  <p>Is there an established method for creating new windows (modal and/or modeless) within the MVVM pattern without creating a dependency?  It seems the only way I can keep the ViewModel clean is to create a Click event handler in the XAML codebehind file and create the new view within the old view.</p>
  
  <p>Any recommendations?</p>