use Perl

• Transparency (Score:2)

  by Matts (1087)

  I use terms with a low transparency (~10%) so that I can see slow loading web pages behind it render, so I can watch other overlapped terminals displaying some sort of continuous output (e.g. make test or tail -f), and also so that I can easily copy down something in the background (e.g. if I've been reading an article about some coding thing I can easily copy it down).
  
  I lose a small bit of usability, but nothing tragic, and I do feel like I gained something worthwhile. Of course I'll probably turn it off
• It's super easy to implement ... (Score:2)

  by ask (83)

  
  If I recall correctly (I haven't actually used it), then it's very easy to implement it with the Cocoa API. I think that's the reason, more than any usability factor, that it is in so many applications. :-)

  --
  

  -- ask bjoern hansen [askbjoernhansen.com], !try; do();
  • Re:It's super easy to implement ... (Score:2)

    by gnat (29)

    Yeah, most applications that have transparency seem only to have it because it's trivial to implement. Matt's use of it to copy text from another window makes the most sense of any use I've heard. It's a shame--I wish it was as useful as it is sexy.

    --Nat
    • Re:It's super easy to implement ... (Score:2)

      by ask (83)

      It's useful like quicktime movies playing minimized in the dock is useful. It looks spiffy to windows users when you try to convert them to "Think different. Do like us. Get a mac." :-)
      
        - ask

      --
      

      -- ask bjoern hansen [askbjoernhansen.com], !try; do();
    • Re:It's super easy to implement ... (Score:2)

      by pudge (1)

      I use it similarly to how Matts does. I have so many Terminal windows open sometimes that it is useful to be able to read what is underneath. I sometimes find it makes things harder to read, esp. when I am tired, but I find the utility outweighs this. YMMV.