[aedon]

there are some transparancy mods out there for cht
im not sure if they have one specificaly for the carrier bar background, but it never hurts to look

as far as the start button in the top left, you would have to find the image that the phone is using for the start button
if you want to get rid of it compleatly just deleat it from you \windows directory
i would however recomend just changing the image in something like photoshop or something to that extent and save it as the exact same name
i think that it will be called classicblue_bubble_flag
now dont quote me cause i use 6.5.x and im not sure if its the same
but i do however know that if you install a custom toolbar, it WILL change your start button icon on a 6.5 wm taskbar
i suggest looking for a custom toolbar if you dont already have one, that might not have the start icon
then just copy it back into your directory
it will not remove the function of that button, but it will remove the image so it will appear to not have the button at the top.

if you have no access to thees files, i recomend installing a little program called 'total comander'
its a free app you can find on variouse sites.