I put an OuterGlow an Ellipse and got the problem that the edges are not round :( It seems that WPF uses the Ellipse's Width and Height as Borders for the BitmapEffect ...
My Code:
<Page xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/avalon/2005" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/xaml/2005">
<Page.Resources>
<Style x:Key="Online" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Viewbox Stretch="Fill" Width="{TemplateBinding Width}" Height="{TemplateBinding Height}">
<Canvas Width="120" Height="120">
<Ellipse Canvas.Top="11" Canvas.Left="10" Width="100" Height="100">
<Ellipse.Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Ellipse}">
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="False">
<Setter Property="Ellipse.Fill">
<Setter.Value>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="0,1">
<LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
<GradientStop Offset="0" Color="Black" />
<GradientStop Offset="0.9" Color="Red" />
</LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Trigger>
<Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Ellipse.Fill">
<Setter.Value>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="0,1">
<LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
<GradientStop Offset="0" Color="DarkRed" />
<GradientStop Offset="0.5" Color="Red" />
</LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
<Setter Property="Ellipse.BitmapEffect">
<Setter.Value>
<OuterGlowBitmapEffect GlowColor="Red" GlowSize="1" />
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</Ellipse.Style>
</Ellipse>
<Ellipse I@#$TestVisible="False" Canvas.Top="10" Canvas.Left="22.5" Width="75" Height="60" Opacity="0.9">
<Ellipse.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="0,1">
<LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
<GradientStop Offset="0" Color="White" />
<GradientStop Offset="0.9" Color="Transparent" />
</LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Ellipse.Fill>
</Ellipse>
<Ellipse I@#$TestVisible="False" Canvas.Top="86" Canvas.Left="32.5" Width="55" Height="27" Opacity="0.8">
<Ellipse.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="0,1">
<LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
<GradientStop Offset="0.1" Color="Transparent" />
<GradientStop Offset="1" Color="White" />
</LinearGradientBrush.GradientStops>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Ellipse.Fill>
</Ellipse>
</Canvas>
</Viewbox>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Page.Resources>
<Button Style="{DynamicResource Online}" />
</Page>

OuterGlowBitmapEffect on Ellipse
Mike Kendall
This has already been fixed in our internal builds. You should see the fix in the February CTP.
David
Steve in Alaska