While HTML5 has been getting most of the attention lately, CSS 3, the other half of the web developer’s toolkit for next-generation web pages has been progressing as well.

The CSS 3 box-shadow property allows for drop shadows and other gradient-based effects without the need for images or other hacks. Box shadow works in Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari, Opera and ...

There isn't a way to do specifically what you are looking for cross-browser / platform in pure CSS. I personally usually only style inputs, textareas & buttons in forms, everything else renders as ...