I like to have my layout set up so that I can 'see' everything, thus all the windows are transparent:
This is what it looks like with all windows, stat bars, etc. shown (press F10 a few times):
Here's the file, download it to your EQ2 directory, UNZIP it, replace unrest with your server name and replace BLANK with your character name. Save your old UI settings file by naming it something else (just stick OLD somewhere in the file name). You will have to join any chat channels you're used to being in, like the level channels (50-59, 60-69), stuff like 'Good Crafting' or player made channels like guk.dirges. I use the bottom middle chat window to join all that stuff...