Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8

Software: Sergey @ Monday 2013 April 22 - 19:42:52

Most annoying thing in Windows 8's appearance, beside Metro and Charms Bar of Desktop, is transparent Taskbar. It does not fit the opaque window frames and looks ugly.
I decide to fix it.
Last night my friend Tihiy, the author of StartIsBack solution, has shared with me the way to disable tasbkar transparency via DWM API. So I have created Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8.

Latest version is 2.5, see the change log below.
With v2.5 I decide to provide x64 version, for those who have removed x86 .NET components in x64 OS.
With help of this simple and lightweight application you will be able to make your taskbar Opaque in any time you want it. Also it can optionally run in the background or it can run once and then exit without taking memory. You can close it after you have disabled the transparency.
Since version 2.0 the new command line option is available:

opaquetaskbar.exe /resident

It allows you to keep Taskbar opaque even if theme or Aero color was changed.
In resident mode Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8 will stay in memory and will show a tray icon with context menu.

Use that menu or just double click on the tray icon to toggle the transparency.
Also, "startup" checkbox will ask you if you want to keep the application in memory after startup.

Change log

v2.5
The application was slightly improved. New features are following:

Taskbar will become opaque even you will restart Explorer (The resident mode of Opaque Taskbar is required).
Tray icon stays visible even you will restart Explorer (The resident mode of Opaque Taskbar is required).
Taskbar will become opaque even you will move it to the another side of screen (The resident mode of Opaque Taskbar is required).
Added the "Disable Updates Check" option according to users requests.

v2.0
The new command line option: opaquetaskbar.exe /resident allows you to keep taskbar opaque even if theme or Aero color was changed.
In resident mode Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8 will stay in memory and will show a tray icon with context menu. Use that menu or just double click on the tray icon to toggle the transparency.
Also, "startup" checkbox will ask you if you want to keep the application in memory after startup.

v1.1.0.1
I have resolved dual display issues and improved the code.

v.1.1
A minor bug with check box state is also fixed. Please update as soon as possible.

v1.0
Initial release

Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8 in action

Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8 has special option to run at Windows startup. Please note that Windows 8 uses delayed start for desktop apps, so your Taskbar will become opaque with some delay. This is not a big price for portable lightweight software, isn't it?

Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8 is free, portable application and does not require to be installed. It is compatible with Windows 8 x86 and Windows 8 x64.

Download: Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8

Sergey Tkachenko

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Comments

DoNotBuyWindows8\|07 Jan
Guest	#the way to disable tasbkar transparency via DWM API And what is way? How is this done?

Anonymous\|07 Jan
Guest	Nice, but only seems to work on primary monitor ? Taskbar on secondary monitor(s) seems to still be transparent - whatever order I use to enable / connect secondary monitor and change the transparency.

Sergey \|08 Jan
Comments: 369	I know. I am sorry I will fix that bug tomorrow, I am unable to access sources right now.

Jose_49\|08 Jan
Guest	Haha! Nice. I knew it was coming from this site when I saw this on Neowin. Keep up the amazing job!

xpclient\|08 Jan
Guest	Fixed now supports multiple displays.

guest\|11 Jan
Guest	Very nice thanks! Perfect. The see-through effect drove me nuts.

Tim\|11 Jan
Guest	Would not use this until I know what it is actually doing... ie. is it changing DLLs? Or is it just a registry hack?

Sergey \|12 Jan
Comments: 369	Tim, no and no it does the following: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa969508%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Anonymous\|14 Jan
Guest	make it work with the taskbar on the top?

Sergey \|14 Jan
Comments: 369	but already it works regardless of taskbar position

Anonymous\|19 Jan
Guest	Nice, but can you match the color to the window border color?

Guest\|19 Jan
Guest	Yes, please add the option to change the color of the taskbar as well ... Thanks!

compujosh\|20 Jan
Guest	I've been using this for about two days, and AVG picked it up as infected (personal identity threat I think). Currently working on redownloading it and trying again.

Anonymous\|05 Feb
Guest	Download doesn't work, invalid zip file. Please fix it.

Sergey \|05 Feb
Comments: 369	Works fine here, opened with Explorer's internal Comressed folder feature. Try now.

Bruno Rotondi\|20 Feb
Guest	Great! Thanks

Shane\|12 Mar
Guest	I like this software, but I would also REALLY like to make my taskbar pure glass without blur the way I could in Windows 7. Is that anything you might be working on in the future? I like it either opaque or transparent, nothing in between. Great work here, though, and I love your various software!

doknir\|13 Mar
Guest	Thanks for the update! Is is possible to disable checking for updates?

Sergey \|13 Mar
Comments: 369	I will implement this option But... any reason to disable checking for updates?

doknir\|14 Mar
Guest	No problem with me! But I installed your software on friend's new W8 laptop (his wish was to make it more like W7/XP) and now he is asking me what is going on ... In some cases this 'new update' dialog is not suitable. Maybe just a tray icon ...

Sergey \|14 Mar
Comments: 369	In some cases this 'new update' dialog is not suitable. Maybe just a tray icon ... Hey, this is really good idea!

doknir\|15 Mar
Guest	Yes, it would be similar like Java or Adobe Reader updater. But please still add an option to disable updates (currently I block it using firewall) ...

Bloodcore\|18 Mar
Guest	Hello! Am I the only one having problems with 2.0? It seems that the OpaqueTaskbar automaticly disables itself after a while now.. This never happened in the previous version.

jRev\|22 Mar
Guest	Is there any way to disable the popup reminder during startup that a new version is available? I already have 2.0 and it still keeps bugging me! Thanks.

Sergey \|22 Mar
Comments: 369	This is not possible. You have the old version somewhere else, e.g. in startup folder. Remove app from the startup/registry, then use version 2. I will add an option to disable update check soon.

jRev\|22 Mar
Guest	Successfully disabled it through the startup tab in Task Manager. Thanks!

projayjay\|23 Mar
Guest	Is there any way for the client to automatically download the updates? It is so annoying for me to go to the website every two weeks to get a new version

Sergey \|23 Mar
Comments: 369	It is possible. Added in my "TODO".

seanhawk\|29 Mar
Guest	Is it possible to make the taskbar and titlebar have different colors? I wanna give the taskbar a dark color and the titlebar a light color, because the taskbar has white text but the titlebar has black text. I want the texts to stand out.