If you are an older user of Mozilla Thunderbird email Desktop client, you might have noticed the addition of Aero Glass interface since 5.0 version of Thunderbird. Thunderbird 5.0 and later versions utilize Aero Glass feature of Windows Vista and 7 and provide transparency behind menubar and toolbar as shown in following screenshot:
At first look, it looks great but people who use dark Desktop backgrounds face problems while reading the text in Thunderbird window and it becomes quite annoying for them.
If you don't like Aero Glass in Thunderbird, you can disable it using this tutorial. We are going to share 2 methods to remove Aero Glass from Mozilla Thunderbird menubar and toolbar:
- Using Compatibility Mode trick
- Using 3rd party Add-on
METHOD 1: Using Compatibility Mode Trick
1. Right-click on Thunderbird shortcut on Desktop or Programs menu and select Properties.
2. Now go to "Compatibility" tab and enable the option "Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 3)".
3. Click on Apply button and launch Thunderbird. Now you'll completely get rid of Aero Glass as shown in following screenshot:
METHOD 2: Using 3rd Party Add-on
If you are not in mood to use compatibility mode trick, you can take help of a 3rd party add-on "NoGlass" which can remove Aero Glass in Thunderbird. It also allows you to have colorized icons in "Use Small Icons" mode.
You can download it using following link:
Download NoGlass Add-on for Mozilla Thunderbird
Once you download, open Thunderbird and click on "Tools -> Add-ons". Now select "Install Add-on From File" option from the menu showing near add-on searchbox. Select the add-on file which you downloaded and click on Open button. It'll install the add-on.
Restart Thunderbird and you'll not get Aero Glass any more as shown in following screenshot:
Thanks to our reader "MJPollard" for sharing this add-on...
Also check:
MailBrowserBackup: Backup Your Web Browsers and Email Clients Profiles
This article was posted by VG in following section: Software, Troubleshooting.
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leomate
VG, recently i tried to run WEI in windows developer preview and always stuck in DX10 : Texture
In previous build [7989] i can disable aero with ctrl shift F10. But in WDP i can't. Is there any trick to disable aero temporary. tried with compatibility programs, services.msc but doesn't give disable DWM.
Thx before :)
Lester
leomate,
Try one of Vishal's articles about shutting aero down and adding it to the context menu. Or simply use Windows Basic Theme.
Madis
Easiest tip (I think): get some old theme.
Christian
An out of the topic comment:
Thunderbird will replace Evolution in Ubuntu's next release (11.10)!
:D
Rtyh-12
I don't know why anyone would disable Aero, but thanks anyway!
rcmero
@Rtyh-12: Some people don't like too much transparency in the window.
MJPollard
@Rtyh-12: I've found that the menu bar is nearly impossible to read when Aero is set to a dark theme (which I prefer), and that the buttons also don't look that hot. A lighter, opaque background makes them look better, at least in my opinion. It's just nice that we have the options. :-)
There's another Thunderbird theme, xpDefault, that does the same thing, but provides a slight, XP-like gradient look, as opposed to the uniform monochrome of NoGlass. (Found this one last night, after I had written my initial comment.) VG, you might want to add that one to the list; it's what I'm using now, and like I said, it works just as well as NoGlass.
SMBR
gud helpful