This is one characteristic of Unity (Canonical -- Ubuntu) that I think got it right: http://design.canonical.com/2011/03/introducing-overlay-scrollbars-in-unity

This is one characteristic of Unity (Canonical -- Ubuntu) that I think got it right: http://design.canonical.com/2011/03/introducing-overlay-scrollbars-in-unity/ http://design.canonical.com/2011/03/introducing-overlay-scro..., which leaves only small indicators until the bar is in proximity to the cursor (or in use). It'd be a nice touch to mobile applications, like with Android, where the scrollbar only needs to be represented by 2-3 pixels.