Glass Command Prompt

[Tripacer99]

I take no credit for this, I found the original post on win7vista.com.

If you are using Windows Vista or 7 and your graphics card supports Aero, then you must be enjoying the transparent windows having glass in their borders. The one and only thing which doesn't match with the new Aero interface is "Command Prompt" window.

Microsoft has not changed anything in the Command Prompt window. It's been the same for ages. Many people use Command Prompt regularly. Wouldn't it be great if we can somehow make the Command Prompt window transparent and have glass in it?

The following is a screenshot of Command Prompt window having glass:

As you can see it looks awesome. You can download the script using following link:

Glass CMD for Vista by ~komalo on deviantART

Simply run the EXE file and open Command Prompt. It'll have the glass automatically. To remove the glass, simply close the exe from the system tray. So start enjoying it now..

I've also found a nice way of getting it to run at startup.

1. Download the .exe
2. Create a shortcut of the .exe
3. Click on start, and type "SHELL:STARTUP"
4. Drag the shortcut to the folder
5. Right click on the shortcut, and click on properties
6. Set it to run minimized in the run drop down menu

and you're done!

 

[Cam]

Why couldn't they just patch it through a series of registry tweaks?

 

[Tripacer99]

Why couldn't they just patch it through a series of registry tweaks?

That'd be nice too. But unfortunately I can't find any patch like that.

 

[MilesAhead]

Why couldn't they just patch it through a series of registry tweaks?

The window has to exist. Then you call DwmEnableBlurBehindWindow() api on the window. It looks a lot cooler if you have a blue or green background. Then you get a bluish blur in the client area of the command shell.

Like this:

 

[chuckr]

I take no credit for this, I found the original post on win7vista.com.

Nice!
The DOS-box was definitely dullsville...
Thank you...

 

[Tripacer99]

Nice!
The DOS-box was definitely dullsville...
Thank you...

No problem.

 

[MilesAhead]

Nice!
The DOS-box was definitely dullsville...
Thank you...

Unfortunately you can't just call the blur background api and get a cool window. It works well with the command prompt because by default the client area is black. If you just call blur on the whole window buttons and any labels go weird. But you can still get a thick glass border without doing anything too extraordinary. As I use in some of my apps:

 

[darkassain]

yes calling that api using a white background window can just (or any light color) can make the screen unreadble (the autoit script was actually reference here: http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/9984-how-get-aero-glass-firefox-completely.html)
using that api can either get cool results (black or any dark background window with white text or light color text) or really unreadable window (white or any color background with black text or dark colored text)

 

[MilesAhead]

On codeproject.com there's code to draw on glass. But it looks like way too much of a pita. That's why I just went with the thick frame. It gets to a point where you are programming more interface sizzle than program. Plus the more complicated the messing with the windows the greater the chance of a crash. Besides, seeing through stuff isn't always the best for typing and reading.