Is it possible to have a transparent background?

I'd like to have the users desktop or whatever windows they have open show through the background with a 开发者_StackOverflowslight bit of opacity. I did a quick mockup in photoshop to try and illustrate what I'm aiming for

I'm fine with using a bit of jQuery if need be, but would prefer to keep the foot print light. I don't really want to add a ton of overhead just for a fancy effect.

No. You cannot make the browser window translucent.

This is completely impossible... using current APIs. It's theoretically possible that one might be implemented in the future, but for now, the best you can do is transparency to the user desired color.

I doubt this is possible since it requires the actual browser window to be transparent, which is almost surely not the case.

Maybe with some plugin for the browser, but not by code in your website.

No, this is impossible.

99.99% of the time, if you've never seen it before, there's a good reason*.

*EDIT: These comments are specific to web programming... not meant to apply to the sum total of human innovation.

The term is Form Opacity, and you have to have access to the applications source code, in most cases to manipulate it. Several programs already have this as a standard or hidden feature, i.e. Trillian, and iCalenderLite, to name a couple.... Windows 7 allows you to do it to any open window.

form.opacity

EDIT: Answer has been getting downvoted without comment, so I added the OP's and my additional remarks here.

Would this still be out of bounds for a website to change though? FREX I couldn't have my website turn form opacity on (just for site X) if it wasn't already? – aslum Jun 7 '11 at 23:33

For that, I would have to say "not possible", unless it was a "live" control, loaded by the browser to begin with. You most likely would not be able to do it on a "by site" basis only. And even though most user initiated events are "technically" replicable via script or code, proper security levels, would render such an event, inaccessible to outside manipulation. – tahwos Jun 8 '11 at 22:04

I am seeing a lot of this is impossible. The correct answer is currently mostly impossible ;) Using programming, you can create a window or application that is transparent. I have never done anything of the sort, but I have used several programs that allow you to control transparency.

My best bet for controlling opacity of a window is DirectX. So If you were to make a browser with DirectX, you could control the opacity of the window by reading the CSS.

So basicly, you could do it your self, much like mozilla firefox reads their own css (-moz-radius) just make your own DirectX based Web browser. I could see someone getting a lot of support on a project like that.