diff --git a/crates/gpui/src/platform/windows/window.rs b/crates/gpui/src/platform/windows/window.rs
index c5d49d036b..3931f76c62 100644
--- a/crates/gpui/src/platform/windows/window.rs
+++ b/crates/gpui/src/platform/windows/window.rs
@@ -390,10 +390,10 @@ impl WindowsWindow {
                 .unwrap_or(""),
         );
         let (dwexstyle, mut dwstyle) = if params.kind == WindowKind::PopUp {
-            (WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW, WINDOW_STYLE(0x0))
+            (WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW | WS_EX_LAYERED, WINDOW_STYLE(0x0))
         } else {
             (
-                WS_EX_APPWINDOW,
+                WS_EX_APPWINDOW | WS_EX_LAYERED,
                 WS_THICKFRAME | WS_SYSMENU | WS_MAXIMIZEBOX | WS_MINIMIZEBOX,
             )
         };
@@ -459,6 +459,14 @@ impl WindowsWindow {
                 state: WindowOpenState::Windowed,
             });
         }
+        // The render pipeline will perform compositing on the GPU when the
+        // swapchain is configured correctly (see downstream of
+        // update_transparency).
+        // The following configuration is a one-time setup to ensure that the
+        // window is going to be composited with per-pixel alpha, but the render
+        // pipeline is responsible for effectively calling UpdateLayeredWindow
+        // at the appropriate time.
+        unsafe { SetLayeredWindowAttributes(hwnd, COLORREF(0), 255, LWA_ALPHA)? };
 
         Ok(Self(state_ptr))
     }
@@ -703,41 +711,20 @@ impl PlatformWindow for WindowsWindow {
         window_state
             .renderer
             .update_transparency(background_appearance != WindowBackgroundAppearance::Opaque);
-        let mut version = unsafe { std::mem::zeroed() };
-        let status = unsafe { windows::Wdk::System::SystemServices::RtlGetVersion(&mut version) };
-        if status.is_ok() {
-            if background_appearance == WindowBackgroundAppearance::Blurred {
-                if version.dwBuildNumber >= 17763 {
-                    set_window_composition_attribute(window_state.hwnd, Some((0, 0, 0, 10)), 4);
-                }
-            } else {
-                if version.dwBuildNumber >= 17763 {
-                    set_window_composition_attribute(window_state.hwnd, None, 0);
-                }
+
+        match background_appearance {
+            WindowBackgroundAppearance::Opaque => {
+                // ACCENT_DISABLED
+                set_window_composition_attribute(window_state.hwnd, None, 0);
             }
-            //Transparent effect might cause some flickering and performance issues due `WS_EX_COMPOSITED` is enabled
-            //if `WS_EX_COMPOSITED` is removed the window instance won't initiate
-            if background_appearance == WindowBackgroundAppearance::Transparent {
-                unsafe {
-                    let current_style = GetWindowLongW(window_state.hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE);
-                    SetWindowLongW(
-                        window_state.hwnd,
-                        GWL_EXSTYLE,
-                        current_style | WS_EX_LAYERED.0 as i32 | WS_EX_COMPOSITED.0 as i32,
-                    );
-                    SetLayeredWindowAttributes(window_state.hwnd, COLORREF(0), 225, LWA_ALPHA)
-                        .inspect_err(|e| log::error!("Unable to set window to transparent: {e}"))
-                        .ok();
-                };
-            } else {
-                unsafe {
-                    let current_style = GetWindowLongW(window_state.hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE);
-                    SetWindowLongW(
-                        window_state.hwnd,
-                        GWL_EXSTYLE,
-                        current_style & !WS_EX_LAYERED.0 as i32 & !WS_EX_COMPOSITED.0 as i32,
-                    );
-                }
+            WindowBackgroundAppearance::Transparent => {
+                // Use ACCENT_ENABLE_TRANSPARENTGRADIENT for transparent background
+                set_window_composition_attribute(window_state.hwnd, None, 2);
+            }
+            WindowBackgroundAppearance::Blurred => {
+                // Enable acrylic blur
+                // ACCENT_ENABLE_ACRYLICBLURBEHIND
+                set_window_composition_attribute(window_state.hwnd, Some((0, 0, 0, 0)), 4);
             }
         }
     }
@@ -1084,6 +1071,7 @@ fn register_wnd_class(icon_handle: HICON) -> PCWSTR {
             lpszClassName: PCWSTR(CLASS_NAME.as_ptr()),
             style: CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW,
             hInstance: get_module_handle().into(),
+            hbrBackground: unsafe { CreateSolidBrush(COLORREF(0x00000000)) },
             ..Default::default()
         };
         unsafe { RegisterClassW(&wc) };
@@ -1241,6 +1229,12 @@ fn retrieve_window_placement(
 }
 
 fn set_window_composition_attribute(hwnd: HWND, color: Option<Color>, state: u32) {
+    let mut version = unsafe { std::mem::zeroed() };
+    let status = unsafe { windows::Wdk::System::SystemServices::RtlGetVersion(&mut version) };
+    if !status.is_ok() || version.dwBuildNumber < 17763 {
+        return;
+    }
+
     unsafe {
         type SetWindowCompositionAttributeType =
             unsafe extern "system" fn(HWND, *mut WINDOWCOMPOSITIONATTRIBDATA) -> BOOL;