Glass2k

[Jaqie Fox]

This is a small review of a freeware program some of you may already know about, Glass2k, available at their official web page, chime.tv.

The program is freeware for Windows 2000 and higher operating systems.

Without further ado, here are the screenshots.

Please note: any downsized image is clickable for the full-size image

This little beauty of a program lets you 'glassify' (turn transparent) any process which has a window, in windows 2000 and higher operating systems in 10% increments from 100% opaqueness to 10% opaqueness. It has several options outlined in the screenshot, and key shortcuts which allow you to change the transparency of the active window with a simple keystroke. It remembers window settings by the program name, so if you glassify one instance of explorer, the other instances change to that transparency when they become active. Even the taskbar can be changed via the standard methods or the slider-selector in the main window. The program is also very small and has a very small footprint in memory. There is no installer, simply copy the EXE file to a spot on your hard drive and create a short cut where you want it.

The only 'nag' of this program is a short splash screen (shown in the center of the screenshot) which shows for a few seconds when the program starts. The main problem with this program (besides using a lot of video card resources for you with non-gamer video cards) is that some 3D accelerated games seem to have problems when it is running, which vary from stuttering to low performance to total failure. This is not an issue if the program is shut down before you run a 3D accelerated game, however.

Despite the 3D app problem, this is a gem of a program that I am happy to run on my computer, and enjoy using daily.

My rating for it is definitely 4 out of 5 stars.

What are your thoughts?

Edited December 5, 2006 by Jaqie Fox

[sylvianorth]

I've used Glass2k a few times and whilst I like the features I've found it to be quite buggy. Sometimes it'll shoot my cpu usage up to 100% and others it'll cause explorer to crash. I do like the program but it needs to be reworked a little.

[Jaqie Fox]

I have actually never had it cause explorer to crash. What were you running at the time?

[LLXX]

What are your thoughts?

More useless eye-candy, no thanks.

Maybe for users with small resolutions it can be helpful, but IMHO having to see the background through everything is just distracting.

[Jaqie Fox]

IMHO having to see the background through everything is just distracting.

Uhm, you don't have to see the background though everything. as a matter of fact the default for all windows is 100% opaque. If you wish you can only 'glassify' one window and have every other program you use 100% opaque.

Edited December 6, 2006 by Jaqie Fox

[DigeratiPrime]

hmm I like the taskbar transparency, but otherwise I will just stick with DM2.

http://dm2.sourceforge.net/

I used to use PowerMenu before DM2.

http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/powermenu/

[Mangix]

eh? I can already do this with nVidia's drivers(which i need to update)

[nitroshift]

My nVIDIA drivers do the same without third-party applications

[Jaqie Fox]

My nVIDIA drivers do the same without third-party applications

I have the same nVidia drivers. I find them to be much less 'user friendly' and have trouble remembering the application to 'glassify'. I find this program to be much more user friendly and less buggy.

[Maleko]

Transparent windows annoy the hell out of me.

also I play a lot of 3d games, so sounds buggy to me in that aspect.