clear menubar?

[vincentmeanie]

I havent dug around conf files too much yet, but I was hoping someone had seen an app that would make the menu ( top bar ) in os x transparent, I have seen it happen while my PB is waking from sleep on accident, so it must be controlable somewhere.

I am basically trying to eek out more desktop space, visually anyway.

 

[Kwyjibo]

i know what your talking about but i'm confused about why you would need that...... also just because the texture of the menu bar is not loaded doesn't mean that its easy to change it but i don't know that. Also even if the bar was clear you wouldn't be able to place windows over it.

 

[benixau]

Its drawn by the window server. To edit it you would have to have access to the source code for the window server.
If apple dod that BTW then they would loose all of the MacOS Xness of X.

For the geekier of us (but not super geeky) - the window server draws the menu bar, title bars, borders on windows scroll bars - basically everything that finder doesnt (that isnt in a window).

For the uber geeky - do you think the window server is a)cocoa and b)nib based? I am sure it is cocoa but that makes it nib based. I think it means that they used hard code to draw the menu bar.

 

[melchior]

well, you can quite easily get rid of the annoying aqua stripes in the title bar and though i too have seen what you are talking about with finder restarts, etc... i don't know how you could make it that permenately.

oh, and by the way, i don't think it has anything to do with editing source

 

[benixau]

Originally posted by melchior

oh, and by the way, i don't think it has anything to do with editing source

then tell me which nib the menu bar is in.
do you code in obj-c? i do. they could programatically draw that stuff to keep it from thiefs. I dont see any other way. You are probably thinking it is a preference - you need a life if so.

 

[melchior]

look, i'm not a themer and i don't know for sure, but you don't know for sure either. you are guessing as much as i am.

anyway, i think you were a tad harsh.

the menubar can be textured and coloured as you like with the extras.rsc file. i had a peek and it looks like (2028) Root Menu Caps, (2029) Root Menu Fill
control the menubar. i could not, off-hand make it transparent.

i think the reason why it does not appear to be readily available is because while most of the Windowing of OS X is flexible no one ever thought they wanted a clear menubar and thus, such a function was never built in, unlike regular windows where you can turn the opacity all the way down.

the reason you see as clear (i believe anyway, i'd have to see it again to confirm) is because the finder isn't running to show anything there.