A method, system, and program for changing the alpha levels of an application window to reflect the status of a non-interactive computing task are provided. An alpha level is determined to represent a status of a non-interactive computing task. A transparency of at least a selected portion of a displayable object associated with the non-interactive computing task is graphically adjusted according to the alpha level, such that the status of the non-interactive computing task is displayed by the associated displayable object, where one type of displayable object includes an application window.