I don't think it will be better than XP. XP so far has been the best O/S from Microsoft. Vista completely sucks, and the design is just tooooooooooooooooooooooooo futuristic. Windows 7 has gone into the 22nd century already I'll only get it if its good in perfomance...
I am running Win 7 Beta and RC for about a month now and I am loving it. TBH I even liked Vista and would pick it over XP any day.