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Is Your Menu Bar Translucent (Poll) - Trying to Find a Trend

Maniamac said:
Someone on Apple's discussion boards has pointed out that there is now an Apple Support Doc regarding the (non)translucent menu bar at:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306894

It states: "Your Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard menu bar may appear solid in color, instead of translucent. The translucent Leopard menu bar appears on computers that are equipped with a graphics card which is compatible with Core Image."

Looks like there should be an asterisk after that with a "'Cept for you ol' GeForce FX 5200 users" disclaimer until 10.5.1 rolls out! :p
Click to expand...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306894

That seriously pisses me off. That document BETTER NOT be written in stone. I DEMAND my GeForce FX 5200 to support the translucent menu bar in 10.5.1! Otherwise I won't be able to afford a new computer anytime soon... :mad:
 
Do you really need the transparent menubar that badly? Is it preventing you from getting work done? Does it's lack of presence make your Mac unstable? Seriously, come on.
 
terriyaki said:
Do you really need the transparent menubar that badly? Is it preventing you from getting work done? Does it's lack of presence make your Mac unstable? Seriously, come on.
Click to expand...

It isn't really a matter of whether or not we NEED the feature; it really boils down to whether or not we get what we were promised.
 
Well, it looks like the Apple Support rep lied to me!

Today Apple updated its Support Doc, and made it clear that those with the GeForce FX 5200 will never officially get their transparent menu bar:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306894

"Some graphics cards, such as an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200, may not have the necessary OpenGL capabilities to display a translucent menu bar even though they are compatible with Core Image. Those cards should render most effects, but not the translucent menu bar."

I'm quite disappointed about this; doesn't the GeForce FX 5200 support Vista's Aero, which I'd argue has even more needless eye candy of greater 'complexity'? I find that bizarre, but then again, I don't know much about these kinds of things.

In any case, I apologize to those whose hopes I've raised by posting my conversation with Apple Support.
 
Now that I've realized it may have been a little presumptuous for me to say that the updated Support Doc indicates the GeForce FX 5200 will *never* render the translucent menu bar, I'd like to ask a question to the goodly number of you with more technical proficience than I.

Is it possible that a driver update could give the GeForce FX 5200 the necessary OpenGL capabilities to render the effect, or is this card already topped out? I'm just kind of puzzled that the Mobility Radeon 9550 can do the effect and not the FX 5200, for instance, and am interested in the differences between them that make that so.

Now that 10.5.1 has been seeded, I'm curious to see if anything has been done on this front, considering that the Apple Support rep promised a fix (I just won't let that go! :D). I suppose a cosmetic issue wouldn't have priority in early builds, though.

Thanks, all....
 
Currently, it's not real-time. That means that not only the Geforce FX 5200 should be able to do it, but pretty much every GPU as this is something that can be done in software.

But yes, the Geforce FX 5200 can do blur & transparency, it already happens with the menus and popup buttons. (Check out yourself, just open a menu over a window.)
 
Sijmen said:
Currently, it's not real-time. That means that not only the Geforce FX 5200 should be able to do it, but pretty much every GPU as this is something that can be done in software.

But yes, the Geforce FX 5200 can do blur & transparency, it already happens with the menus and popup buttons. (Check out yourself, just open a menu over a window.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

I read that it may be a bit of a misnomer to call the menu bar "transparent." While it may have been in earlier builds, the retail Leopard supposedly has an opaque menu bar that draws a blurry copy of your wallpaper. Evidently Core Image is a requirement for that, and the GeForce FX 5200 does not currently support all OpenGL Core Image calls? I don't know. This is all way over my head, and I'm sure you know more. Thanks again for the reply!
 
i checked the list and it shows that the last gen ibook with a radeon mobility 9550 as having a transparent menu bar. except that i have the exact same ibook memory and all, and my menu bar is not transparent. ibooks specs are in my sig. so what makes mine different?
 
iBook G4
PPC G4 | 1.33 GHz | 1.5 GB | ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 w/ 32 MB | TRANSPARENT

Mac Pro
Intel Xeon Quad | 2.66 GHz | 3 GB | NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT w/ 256 MB RAM | TRANSPARENT

Haven't installed on my Mini G4 yet, but I expect it to be the same. The specs are basically the same as the iBook G4 except it's got a 1.25 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM.
 
flyinmac said:
iBook G4
PPC G4 | 1.33 GHz | 1.5 GB | ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 w/ 32 MB | TRANSPARENT

Mac Pro
Intel Xeon Quad | 2.66 GHz | 3 GB | NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT w/ 256 MB RAM | TRANSPARENT

Haven't installed on my Mini G4 yet, but I expect it to be the same. The specs are basically the same as the iBook G4 except it's got a 1.25 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM.
Click to expand...

No. The graphics card in G4 Mac mini doesnt support Core Image, so the menu bar will not be transparent.
 
MacBook | 2.0 GHz CoreDuo | 2 GB | GMA 950 | TRANSPARENCY

I did a clean install
 
MBP, 2.4ghz, 4GB crucial RAM, 160gb 7200 rpm, 256mb nvidia 8600. erase and install using up-to-date dvd... translucent.

girlfriend's yonah (core duo) macbook, 1.83ghz, 2gb ram (apple oem from my MBP), upgraded to 160gb 5400 rpm hdd, intel gma 950 graphics (accesses 64mb of system memory). also an erase and install using up-to-date dvd... translucent.

i originally thought my menu bar was opaque, and i didn't know why the difference but in any case i was happy since i don't particularly like the translucency of it. but i realized it only looked opaque because i am using one of the black and white apple desktop backgrounds (desert, with clouds blocking the sun).

so that means everyone should probably check or change their desktop background for a second to confirm their menu bar opactiy :p
 
Haha, I first read your post in my email notification, and then here on the forums, and was a bit like 'huh'?!

Pretty funneh.
 
astrostu said:
Trying to find a trend here because another thread isn't coming across one.

Please post your system (processor, speed, RAM, graphics card(s) - can be found under /Applications/Utilities/System Profiler) and whether your menu bar is translucent or not.
Click to expand...
MacBook|2.2 GHz|1 GB|GMA X3100|TRANSPARENT
 
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