Transparency in XFCE
You know all those impressive transparent effects that Windows Vista can’t do unless you buy it a new computer? You can have some of the same neato stuff running on a computer with a sticker that says “Built for Windows 98.” Xubuntu, or PC/OS, or any other distribution that uses the XFCE desktop will do it for you.
Here’s how you set up transparent effects in Xubuntu (actually, I’m using PC/OS at the moment, but the instructions are exactly the same):
- From the main menu, choose Settings, then Settings Manager.
- Click on Window Manager Tweaks.
- Click on the Compositor tab.
- Check the box for Enable display compositing.
- Move the bars to choose what you want to be transparent and how transparent you want it. I’ve just set inactive windows to be about halfway transparent.
- Setting transparency in Xubuntu or PC/OS.
(You’ll notice, by the way, that I’ve tweaked PC/OS considerably since I reviewed it. I even fixed the incorrect indefinite article in the main menu.)
And now here’s an example of why transparency might not be such a good idea after all:
- The GIMP; or, Why I Turned Off Transparency.
In the GIMP, everything you work with is a separate window. Here I am trying to adjust the contrast of a picture that turns transparent every time I touch the Brightness-Contrast window.
Still, it’s fun to show off transparency on a nine-year-old computer and blow a big fat raspberry in the general direction of Redmond.
