Compton: alternative to xcompmgr

Compton is a fork dexcompmgr-dana, which in turn is a fork of its own xcompmgr, whose objective is the bug fix y new features, among which are the transparency for active and inactive windows, for the window frame (including the title bar) and for the menus.

To install Compton on ArchLinux, you can do it from the AUR:

yaourt -S compton-git

Its most basic execution:

Compton

To apply shadows to windows:

compton -c

So that the shadows do not affect the panels and docks:

compton-cC

To specify the opacity (transparency) of inactive windows and frames:

compton -cC -i 0.6 -e 0.6

To enable smooth transition effects in windows and menus, even when they change their opacity:

compton -cC -i 0.6 -e 0.6 -fF

To specify the opacity change and time when windows are fading:

compton -cC -i 0.6 -e 0.6 -fF -I 0.065 -O 0.065 -D 6

To specify the opacity of the menus:

compton -cC -i 0.6 -e 0.6 -fF -I 0.065 -O 0.065 -D 6 -m 0.8