Throughout the beta process Microsoft received a lot of feedback on how the taskbar and the window border changes to black when you maximize a window. Before the final release they altered the behavior slightly so the window and taskbar would still turn opaque and black, but with a very slight tint of color that matches the color of your glass. This change satisfied some users but left others still in the dark. Many users wanted a maximized window to remain transparent as well as the taskbar. Once the final build of Windows Vista shipped, all hope was gone that we would have transparent maximized windows, until today.
Using a very cool and free utility called VistaGlazz by CodeGazer.com you can easily make your maximized windows and taskbar transparent. Additionally, this utility allows you to easily patch your uxtheme system files so that you can use hacked visual styles with just the click of a button, instead of the multiple step manual procedure.
Let's get started:
- Visit CodeGazer.com (http://www.codegazer.com/vistaglazz.htm) and download the latest version of VistaGlazz.
- Start up your copy of VistaGlazz.
- Click I agree on the first screen.
- Click the icon on the left and then hit Patch files.
- Reboot.
- Start up VistaGlazz again, this time click on the middle icon and hit Patch Style. The DWM will restart and everything will finally be transparent.