windows minimizing?

[death]

ok more an more i see people with window going to the taskbar by getting smaller and more transparent, this might seem like a noob wuestion but whats that called?
 

and does mine not do it because its vista basic? can i make it do that?

[BellaVega]

I don't know exactly what you are talking about. But I assume you're referring the task bar minimized windows appearing opaque rather than solid when you hover over the icon of the program/window in the task bar. If that's what your're talking about, I believe it's just a theme for Windows. I know 7 has different themes tho make the desktop and icons and task bar look differently. Bear in mind, they also rob more memory the flashier they look.