you can regain blur and full transparency with Aero Glass 8/8.1: http://glass8.berlios.de/
It uses the native DWM through Directx 2D/3D, meaning it doesn't cause problems with system files or with SFC since it doesn't modify system files... it simply uses what's already there. While it is free to use, I would recommend donating the few dollars to remove the watermark as it is a marvelous piece of software.
Using Stardock and Aero Glass, along with Rainmeter, is probably the best solution for anyone wishing to truly customize their OS's look and feel. With these three suites of software, the possibilities and customizations are literally endless. A major plus for Rainmeter and Aero Glass is they take up such a small resource footprint, they have little, if any, impact on system resources and performance.
If one should choose to use Aero Glass, check out their forum and do a little research to learn how to take full advantage of it. For example, if you have a dark background, you're going to want a png theme file that is made with white, instead of black, icons. You will have to do some minor registry editing as well with Aero Glass (as since it uses dwm.dll, making it for all intents and purposes apart of the Windows OS, there are values within the local and current user DWM registry fields that will need to be edited). If you're not too familiar with the registry editing, don't rush into it blindly... do your due diligence and take the 5 - 10 minutes to google a value if you're unsure, and ALWAYS EXPORT THE KEY PRIOR TO EDITING... ALWAYS. This creates a backup of the key and prevents you from completely bricking the system if you change or delete the wrong value/key. If you do make a mistake and cause a problem that prevents Windows from loading, you can boot into WinPE, load the registry hive that's applicable, and import your exported key. (Registry hives are located in C:\Windows\System32\config)
It would also behoove all to create the applicable WinPE boot disk for your OS (Win 8 = WinPE 5, Win 7 = WinPE 4, etc.). You will need the correct WinPE version for your specific architecture (x86 or x64). Creating a WinPE usb key or CD is extremely simple... all you need is Windows ADK (Win8) or Windows AIK (7). I would recommend this guide for setting up WinPE: http://reboot.pro/topic/19156-create-a-bootable-winpe-50-x64-usb-drive/
