Outlook 2007 will notify you when a new e-mail message is received by displaying an alert. The alert appears above the system tray on your desktop and provides information such as the subject of the e-mail, as well as whom the sender is.

Outlook lets you customize the desktop alerts you receive for new messages. One of the things you can do is alter the transparency level of the alerts. The more transparent an alert is, the clearer is appears on the desktop. To customize the transparency level of alerts in Outlook 2007:

1. Within Outlook, click the Tools menu and select Options.
2. Select the Preferences tab.
3. Click the E-mail Options button.
4. Click Advanced E-mail Options.
5. Click Desktop Alert Settings.
6. Under Transparency, drag the slider to change the value. The default value is 20%.
7. Click OK.