Recommended Software: XNeat

I was just referred to XNeat by one of my readers. It is a very nice freeware program that adds functionality to your Windows desktop that you wish Microsoft would have included. It runs in the background and is only using 480 KB at the moment.

One of the features it includes is adding transparency to your open windows. This is a nice addition, and it is similar to transparent windows in Linux. When you set a window to be transparent, it will become visible when you roll your mouse over it. There are predefined transparency values from 0, 10, 20,…, 90% or you could also define a custom transparency value. You could also change it so that a window will only go transparent when the window has focus. I like this option better than having it become visible when you roll over it. There is also a “click through” option, which seems to allow you to be able to click through the window to control other windows behind it.

Some other very nice features are being able to send any open window to the system tray, and being able to completely hide any window. When you hide a window, the window button is hidden on the taskbar also. The way you can get a hidden window back is to access the hot menu by pushing the Windows key + Space Bar at the same time. The hot menu has different options for configuring window properties. You can also rearrange windows on your taskbar.

Give it a try. It’s free and works for XP and Vista.