The new Aero interface gives translucency to the chrome that surrounds most application windows. This enables you to see what lies beneath a window, whether the foreground app is stationary or you’re dragging it to a new location.
If the translucency of window chrome irritates you, you can switch it off. Click Start➪Control Panel➪Customize the Color Scheme and then turn off Enable Transparency.
Can Translucency Help Productivity?
Translucency may seem like an unimportant feature, but a source within Microsoft’s Usability Labs tells us that the bold colors of the window frames in Windows XP were found to distract the eye from whatever material was in the main application window. Lightening up the window colors—by making them partially translucent— was found to improve how quickly a person could work with the content within applications.
If the translucency of window chrome irritates you, you can switch it off. Click Start➪Control Panel➪Customize the Color Scheme and then turn off Enable Transparency.
Can Translucency Help Productivity?
Translucency may seem like an unimportant feature, but a source within Microsoft’s Usability Labs tells us that the bold colors of the window frames in Windows XP were found to distract the eye from whatever material was in the main application window. Lightening up the window colors—by making them partially translucent— was found to improve how quickly a person could work with the content within applications.
