Tophaz is a software program for Windows that adds two sets of Windows effects to the computer, namely Windows Transparency and so called Jelly Effects. Each set contains three options that can be selected individually. The Windows Transparency set for instance can enable Taskbar and Start Menu transparency, non-active windows transparency and contrast screen.
Taskbar and Start Menu transparency adds custom transparency to the Windows Taskbar and Start Menu. Non-active windows transparency keeps the active window opaque and makes all other open windows transparent while Contrast Screen helps the user focus on the current task by placing a solid contrast screen underneath it that covers the rest of the computer desktop.
The Jelly effects are more unusual and harder to figure out. Activating Windows Bounce will bounce every window the user clicks on which did cause troubles with the Windows Start Menu on the test computer. Windows Resilence makes Windows act like jelly during resize while Window Kinetics adds basic kinetics to windows movement.
The program has a few quirks which can be attributed to the early version. The transparent windows effects work fine and without problems. The Window Resilence and Window Kinetics Jelly effects would not work on the test computer. That, or they were not recognizable. Windows Bounce was working but pretty annoying after a short while.
The best feature so far is the Contrast Screen option which makes it easier to work in Windows. The software program uses roughly 20 Megabytes of computer memory and users who only want the transparency effects are probably better off with an application that demands less system resources like Chaos Crystal
Related posts:
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Add Transparency to your windows
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4 Responses to “Transparent Windows With Tophaz”
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[...] Vía | ghacks [...]
wow thanks for this.. it’s kind of buggy (I don’t know if it’s just me though) but still works.. :)
awesome, i have tried it, works great
Check this out:
http://www.gravityblue.com/2008/07/27/awesome-tools-to-change-your-windows-xp-interface/
I’ve been using these effects for over two years in Ubuntu Linux. In fact, for over a year it has been included in a standard Ubuntu install. The effects really make using the computer more fun.