Thread: Invisible Windows

Need to peek at your desktop? Clicking Vista's Show Desktop button will minimize all of your open windows, but Win 7 can make them temporarily become transparent-great for glancing at, say, one of Windows' new floating Gadgets. All you have to do is mouse over the Show Desktop button in the bottom-right corner of the screen, and presto: Your windows turn invisible, with only the borders remaining. Slide your mouse away, and immediately the windows become opaque once more.

The freebie AeroPeek for XP and Vista works a bit differently-you have to click to activate it and then click again to deactivate it-but the end result is much the same: Your open windows turn see-through, allowing you to view the desktop behind them. Of course, you can always press <Windows>-D to minimize all open windows (and afterward press <Windows>-D again to restore them), but what fun is that.