For lower specification laptops Windows 7 isn't too great. You'd be better with Ubuntu. Windows 7 is good for mid range/high range laptops.
That is pretty good for me. Why it seems not ok for you? It has some very good features, which were not available in previous versions.
I also use windows XP but now i use windows 7. And as compare to xp, windows 7 gives me more speed and good graphics. I recommend every one just try at once windows 7 Ultimate version.
my guess is you probably have installed windows 7 ultimate. try a simple version like windows 7 starter.
I also prefer XP. Windows7 is not much better than XP but XP is much pretty good and a good alternative to windows7.
Win7 is better than xp in every way. The thing you need to understand is that recommended amount of ram for win7 is 4GB .. 2GB is the apsolute minimum. As for the processes you can turn most of those off in msconfig. It does have a lot of useless processes like parent control, drive encription, windows defender etc.. you can turn all of those off. In any case if you have a pc or a laptop that meets the recommended reqs for win7 it will fly and if not then dont use it. You cant really install win7 on an old computer and complain how it doesent work all that good. They clearly state what are the recommended reqs. And future editions of windows will only demand more not less so be ready to fork over some cast if you want to keep up with the times.
It is too early to say that "Windows 8 is not good". Microsoft has not yet released the final build of Windows 8 and I think they will release it during the last week of October 2012. I have used most of the Windows Operating Systems (XP, ME, 2000, Vista, Win 7) and few days ago I have installed Windows 8 in a Virtual Machine (VirtualBox). I found a good article about VirtualBox and Windows 8 at VPSWebserver site and followed their easy steps. Windows 8 is really fast and I love the inbuilt security system (Defender) too. In Windows 7 we had to install Defender separately. New Defender start it process from the booting process and I guess it is more secure than previous version and most of the third party Virus guards. Microsoft is targeting both PCs, smartphones and Tablets now. New Windows 8 has a tile based Desktop (Metro) and it is easy to use on a Tablet. But friends, make sure to read the requirements before installing Windows 8 since it has two types for x86 and 64bit. If you have Windows 7 you can easily install Windows 8 without adding extra resources.
Win 7 is a nice Windows among Microsoft's OS. I really like working on it. It has a GUI with attractive features. It has more error solving mechanisms. It takes less installation time as well as space.