Windows Aero

Aero is a transparent Windows visual style used from Longhorn M6 to Windows 7 (window transparency was removed in 8). The first build to have working Aero is Windows Longhorn build 4039, and the last build to use Aero (with window transparency) is Windows 8 build 8056. In Windows Longhorn, Aero effects relied on the Desktop Composition Engine (or Desktop Window Manager in newer builds), which only worked in a few builds such as 4039, 4066, and 4074. In Windows Vista and 7, it relies on a driver with WDDM (Windows Display Driver Module) to render window transparency, otherwise the Windows Basic theme would run. From Windows 8 build 7927 and later, the Aero effects are now software rendered.