gnome panel features and looks

["mitch(rezn)" <gte203h prism gatech edu>]

I was wondering if there are any plans to enhance the current look of
the gnome panel. After looking at Mac OS X, it's looking behind times if
you know what I mean. Personally, I like the basic look but fancy
interfaces draws in people. Anyway, will the gnome panel get features
like full transparency/tinted support (which can hopefully be taken
advantaged of by hardware accleration soon), minimizing windows that
stay opaque and refresh, and a tasklist that doesn't look like it came
from the 60s.  A desktop guide that is kind of E looking but faster
would be a cool feature too. The current one is a bit ugly. Another
thing to think about is the shape of the panel. It doesn't really have
to stay rectanglish. It should be able to bulge out, and whatever else
that can be thought of. Overall, I've seen a lot of nice work go into
gnome, evolution, nautilus, etc... lately. Keep up the good work.