The Compiz (compiz-fuzion) is one of the coolest options available on a linux desktop! It has such an extensive collection of features (all configurable) that sometimes one just gets lost, I know I do!

So here is a cool tip to make the menu’s and taskbar transparent.

If you don’t have the Compiz config settings manager, install the compizconfig-settings-manager package.
Launch the utility either from the terminal or from the Preferences menu.
To set menu transparency, select the General Options tile and choose the Opacity settings.
In the Window Opacities section, click on the Add button.
The pop-up window opens up and asks for window specification and the opacity you want.
In the Opacity field, input: Tooltip | Menu | PopupMenu | DropdownMenu
Set the Opacity value to what you like, say 80.

And that’s it. Of course you can do a lot more that just this basic configuration. To learn more, check out the documentation at the Compiz wiki