Re: Windows2000 coolness

[Michael ROGERS <M Rogers cs ucl ac uk>]

>>  	Overall, it looks like the same old crap, but there is one feature
>>  that is VERY cool.  It's hard to describe, and you need to see it to get
>>  an idea of what it looks like.  Menus "fade" into existance.
>
>To be done Properly(tm), this requires an X alpha extension.  End of discussion.

This may not be as difficult as long-term transparent windows (eg terminals).
The fade only takes a fraction of a second, so you could probably take a risk 
on the background not changing while you were drawing the fade. Therefore
you just take a partial screenshot of the area under the menu, use this as the
background of your menu window, and fade it into the normal background. You
will get problems if something happens behind the menu as it fades in, but if
the fade is quick that's unlikely to be a problem.

Michael Rogers