Proximity based transparency of windows aiding in obscured window selection

1. A method, including:

obtaining a cursor location associated with a user controlled cursor;

determining, for each of a plurality of windows, a respective distance to the user controlled cursor based at least in part on the cursor location;

determining a transparency value for each of the plurality of windows based at least in part on the respective distance, wherein determining is performed by a processor; and

displaying the plurality of windows, wherein at least a portion of each window is displayed based on its corresponding transparency value and the window that is closest in distance is elevated to a highest layer.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein at least one window at least partially overlaps at least one other window.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining a respective distance is based on the center of a window, header, or body.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the headers of the windows have a constant transparency value that does not vary with the respective distance to the user controlled cursor.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the transparency value for a window is set to 100% when the cursor is not over the window.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 , further including, in response to receiving an indication that a window is selected, disabling transparency mode.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 , further including, in response to receiving an indication that a window is selected, setting the transparency value of the selected window to 0%.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 , further including receiving an indication to enable transparency mode.

9. A method as recited in claim 1 , further including, in response to receiving an indication to disable transparency mode, displaying all windows at 0% transparency.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 , further including, in response to receiving an indication to disable transparency mode, displaying all windows except the selected window at 100% transparency.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

each of the plurality of windows includes a header and a body; and

the header has a first transparency value and the body has a second transparency value.

12. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining the transparency value includes using a step-like function.

13. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining the transparency value includes using a continuous function.

14. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the transparency value is determined when the cursor location moves from a first portion to a second portion of a display area.

15. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein a portion of the display area is cached.

16. A system, including:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to:

obtain a cursor location associated with a user controlled cursor;

determine, for each of a plurality of windows, a respective distance to the user controlled cursor based at least in part on the cursor location;

determine a transparency value for each of the plurality of windows based at least in part on the respective distance; and

display the plurality of windows, wherein at least a portion of each window is displayed based on its corresponding transparency value and the window that is closest in distance is elevated to a highest layer.

17. A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

obtaining a cursor location associated with a user controlled cursor;

determining, for each of a plurality of windows, a respective distance to the user controlled cursor based at least in part on the cursor location;

determining a transparency value for each of the plurality of windows based at least in part on the respective distance; and

displaying the plurality of windows, wherein at least a portion of each window is displayed based on its corresponding transparency value and the window that is closest in distance is elevated to a highest layer.

18. A method as recited in claim 16 , wherein at least one window at least partially overlaps at least one other window.

19. A method as recited in claim 17 , wherein at least one window at least partially overlaps at least one other window.