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where is the option for translucency?

The option to turn it off/on?
Go to your system preferences and choose Accessibility, then make sure you select the "Display" option, there you'll find the "reduce transparency" checkbox.
 
love the translucent option :) Ever since the title bar got transparency back in Leopard I think, it has been the best for me. I like both ways but translucent just feels more unified with the background image / other windows behind.
 
I don't have Yosemite.

Should translucency affect tag colors (as in OP's second picture)? It seems to me they should exclude tag colors from being translucent.

I wouldn't have translucent enabled in "light mode", if that's what it's called. White over color = pastel everything.

Come to think of it, I probably wouldn't have it in "dark mode" either. Grey over color would be muddy everything, though perhaps it's just a dark overlay...

Maybe the translucent areas are small enough that it's bearable?
 
The translucency is just plain nasty in my opinion. It looks extremely dated and is the complete opposite of the minimalistic, plain design that they're moving towards. They should've just left it as it was post-Leopard – subtle, slight translucency that doesn't look like Compiz or Windows Vista. This was simply change for the sake of change.
 
Some tweets about transparency/translucency/vibrancy

Yosemite with transparency is distracting, and Yosemite without transparency is distractingly ugly.

So... Yosemite's got TWO look&feel options.
Reduce transparency (ugly) and dark mode.

The "Reduce transparency" checkbox in Yosemite should really be labeled "JFC, WTF were they thinking, amirite?"

Weird! Jerky scrolling in Yosemite Mail.app only occurs in full screen mode. Turning off Transparency fixes but makes rest of UX ugly.

I ****ing hate transparency …

OK, enough transparency / vibrancy in Yosemite. Turning it off, performance is an issue and it just looks ugly most of the time.

Hating #Yosemite. Ugly and so flat and transparent i think by next update i'll start seeing back of my screen

How can a thing be semi-transparent when in the foreground but opaque when in the background, Yosemite? HOW?

 
Apple had transparency back in 10.2? They ditched it because of usability problems… So why bring it back?
 
Apple had transparency back in 10.2? They ditched it because of usability problems… So why bring it back?

It isn’t exactly the same. You can’t actually see through Yosemite’s frosted-glass effect. Only the colour and some indistinctive shapes shine through. It doesn’t have to be bad for usability if done right, but they focussed more on stylistic aspects rather than usability.
 
I don’t like translucency in the toolbar. It’s especially annoying in the Messages app. The toolbar turns blue or green on the right side, but it seems so pointless and distracting to me. I liked the cleaner look of Mavericks’ toolbars, it had a bit more class.
 

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It isn’t exactly the same. You can’t actually see through Yosemite’s frosted-glass effect. Only the colour and some indistinctive shapes shine through. It doesn’t have to be bad for usability if done right, but they focussed more on stylistic aspects rather than usability.

The sad thing is this all reminds me of them copying Microsoft's Aero (Vista/7). Yet Microsoft ditched it for Windows 8.
 
The problem with translucency is that it makes the whole interface more jittery notwithstanding that it is already jittery to start with.
I really think Yosemite is a step backward in terms of GUI fluidity when compared to Mavericks which was light years better.
The new features such as handoff are great, but the GUI is truly a disaster.
 
The problem with translucency is that it makes the whole interface more jittery notwithstanding that it is already jittery to start with.
I really think Yosemite is a step backward in terms of GUI fluidity when compared to Mavericks which was light years better.
The new features such as handoff are great, but the GUI is truly a disaster.

Microsoft ditched it because it was a huge drain on the battery. Yet here we are and I'm seeing people complain of the same problems for OS X on multiple forums.
 
Microsoft ditched it because it was a huge drain on the battery. Yet here we are and I'm seeing people complain of the same problems for OS X on multiple forums.

I think they ditched it because it didn’t fit with their design language anymore. I never saw it as a significant battery drain (and it was entirely optional too). Most criticisms I heard of were waste of resources on superfluous theming.
 
It was a change for the sake of being consistent with iOS, which makes it valid in my opinion.
Mandatory fullscreen should be next. Apple also needs to work harder on eliminating the File System and replacing Finder completely, with Launchpad. Interapp communication also needs reduction/elimination; and what about this AppleScript monstrosity???

Phones, Pads and desktops are different devices, used for different purposes.
If you take the teeth off a saw, you still have a pretty handy pancake flipper, but it's a lousy saw.
 
The Yosemite design is a big fail:
  • With transparency it's a major resource hog and the legibility suffers bad.
  • Without transparency it has parts that are almost as ugly/outdated as X11/Motif. I guess not many of you even had the pleasure to use such an interface.
 
I don't have Yosemite.

Should translucency affect tag colors (as in OP's second picture)? It seems to me they should exclude tag colors from being translucent.
Maybe the translucent areas are small enough that it's bearable?

That's since been fixed. The OPs pictures are from an outdated preview version of Yosemite.

tags.png
 
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