One of the most irritating things when you move from Windows 7 to Windows 8 is the blatant lack of the elegant Aero Transparency in the latter. While there exists a plenty of ways to get Aero working on Windows 8, there is a nice dearth of stable options.
Aero Glass for Windows 8 finally brings the lost Aero look for Windows 8. The greatest advantage of Aero 8 being that it integrates directly with the control panel, so you do not have to worry about using a separate program to control the transparencies and colors.
Features of Aero Glass for Windows 8
- Bring Full Aero Transparency back in Windows 8
- Blur the content behind the borders to improve UI experience
- Change amount of transparency in Control panels directly
- Low resources usage
- It’s completely free!
Setup and Usage
We had reported about the tool while it was still in its infant stages. Since then, Aero Glass for Windows 8 has come a long way. To get Aero Glass up and running, all you now need to do is to install the program and restart your PC.
Aero Glass for Windows 8 works pretty darn neat now. Personally for me transparency looks really good with the flat title bars of Windows 8.
There also ways in which you can enable support for custom themes and window borders. However, this involves editing the Windows registry and can render your system unstable. If you are feeling adventurous, you can check out the following link.
The coolest part about Aero for Windows 8 is that it integrates directly with Control Panel. You can control the transparency levels directly in the personalize menu, just like Windows 7.
Aero Glass for Windows 8 is also available for Windows 8.1 albeit in a preview stage. We expect it to be ready when Windows 8.1 is released during mid October.
Download: Aero Glass for Windows 8 [1.9 MB]
Performance and Verdict
Because the implementation is native, there is no lag at any level. We had highlighted this issue when the project was in it’s nascent stages. Well, we are glad to report now that the lag while moving window borders is completely fixed. The whole experience feels very native without any feeling of Aero being bolted upon Windows 8. This is hands down the easiest way to get Aero Glass on Windows 8 without messing your system.
