Make Maximized Windows & Taskbar Transparent + Automated UXtheme Patcher

Posted on April 14th, 2007 by Jason

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:

1. Visit CodeGazer.com (http://www.codegazer.com/vistaglazz.htm) and download the latest version of VistaGlazz.
2. Start up your copy of VistaGlazz.
3. Click I agree on the first screen.
4. Click the icon on the left and then hit Patch files.
5. Reboot.
6. 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.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 14th, 2007 at 2:31 am and is filed under Software, Windows Vista, Windows XP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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5 Responses to “Make Maximized Windows & Taskbar Transparent + Automated UXtheme Patcher”

  1. XtraSalafy on 15 Apr 2007 at 7:04 pm #

    MS To Squeeze Testers After Software Leak My Vista Installation Part 2 Disable ” Low Disk Space ” Notification How to Clear the Recently Run Programs ListMake Maximized Windows & Taskbar Transparent + Automated UXtheme Patcher

  2. calvin on 03 Jul 2007 at 9:42 pm #

    didnt work

  3. vista transparant - Helpmij.nl Forum on 08 Oct 2007 at 2:08 pm #

    [...] weer een heel gedoe op met eigenaar en machtigingen aanpassen. Hiermee kan het makkelijker: http://www.pctipsbox.com/make-maximi…theme-patcher/ Volg de punten 1 t/m 6 exact op in de volgorde zoals ze staan omschreven. k heb het zelf [...]

  4. DanielRemains on 27 May 2009 at 7:05 am #

    I was thinking about a hack and not about something always running in the background..

  5. sleight on 02 Oct 2009 at 9:02 am #

    would really like to have transparent and not fuzzy taskbar and folder edges but this seems kind of risky and I don’t either want a program running all the time. In that case I just install stardock.

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