Can I make my taskbar transparent in Vista?

September 12, 2009 1:40 PM

I recently got a new computer with Vista (I'm behind the curve, I know) and I'd like to know if I can make the background of the taskbar transparent. Google produces a number of weird and contradictory answers.

Here's a picture of my desktop. I like how the gadgets and taskbar sit on either side of the screen, but would absolutely love it if the taskbar elements could hang there without a visible taskbar the way the sidebar background hides itself when it's not moused-over. Is this possible?

posted by Pope Guilty to computers & internet (3 comments total)

If you wait a month and buy windows 7 the taskbar will be transparent by default. Also, do you have aero enabled in vista, as that should make the taskbar semitransparent by default. I'm pretty sure you can actually tweak it so it's even more transparent, but I can't remember exactly how because I'm currently running the windows 7 release candidate.

Here's a link to a lifehacker article about theming your installation which would definitely make doing this possible.

Vista Glazz (linked in the article), which is what you'd use to patch your system before installing any themes makes your taskbar transparent automatically I think, but I can't remember.

Here's a link to some popular themes in case just using vista glazz doesn't work for you, I'm sure at least one of the them has a clear taskbar.
posted by kylej at 2:12 PM on September 12

TransBar is also worth checking out.

What is your end goal? Is it to gain more screen real estate, or to get a better visual effect? Clarifying that might help people come up with better answers. For instance, if you want to gain extra screen real estate, you might just want to auto-hide the taskbar.

By the way, I have Windows 7 RTM (the version that will be released to the public next month), and the taskbar is not transparent by default. It's translucent, meaning you only see a blurred version of what's underneath.
posted by wireless at 2:58 PM on September 12

Kylej has it right, and I'm glad he said it first. After supporting a dorm full of college students on Vista for all of last year, I am no longer capable of reasonable discourse on this subject. It is evil (EVIL!) and the taskbar is the least of your worries. Is this computer still within the return period?

I hear you can get a free upgrade if you bought your Vista machine after some date in July, but I don't know the details or even the truth of that rumor. Maybe it was Best Buy's policy, not Microsoft's?
posted by d. z. wang at 3:00 PM on September 12