Might I suggest you try Windows 8? I was a long-time XP holdout because I thought Vista and 7 dumbed things down too much for the power user, and I upgraded to 7 only because of support for newer hardware.
What got me to finally abandon XP was Windows 8, which I do strongly recommend. Yes, there's Metro and the Start Screen, and people who scream and fuss about that, which is unfortunate because Windows 8 also made tons of improvements on the desktop side of things. So if you can look past Metro, Windows 8/8.1 is a lot more power-user-friendly than 7. There are many, many improvements to File Explorer and the Power User menu is awesome. As a power user, I can't stand Windows 7 now that I've gotten used to 8. Yes, 7 is overrated. And 8 is tragically overlooked.
It won't "fix" the Photo Viewer behavior, though (actually, I really like that it's instanced now). But, overall, I think for 8.1 is a better upgrade path for XP than 7 is.
There are many that like Windows 8, but Its a radical design from what im used to. I dont like heavy change. im not borning, just need stability in my life with everything. a new OS like 8 would be hard for me to adapt to. it looks nice and im very open minded but its too drastic over XP.
right now. Im not going anywhere. Im trying to make W7 work only for the SSD sake. nothing else. I want the speed it gives. otherwise I would never move. xp gives me everything I need. a familiar environment. I dont ever download updates. I dont really care about those. there wont be a shortage of website offering updates should I need one. ive gotten by till now wihtout them and I will run it on my other computer.
OP you appear to be slamming Win7 because the photo viewer doesn't work the way you want it to, and that MS moved a few options. Btw, you can enable the classic Windows Explorer menu that you're used to in XP. (Organise > Folder and Search options > View > 'Always show menus' - I think is what you want).
If so, I would be very surprised if you didn't dislike Win8 even more so, because Windows/File Explorer is extremely different to previous versions (and without the customisability that Win7 has).
I think if you want every OS version you ever use to work and look exactly the same as the version you like, you're in for some disappointment. Unless you want to give up the GUI altogether and use a terminal. While I'm also a fan of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", what you're asking for simply isn't realistic.
Do you just want to rant or are you asking for help?
Be nice...
-ViRGE
yea, I hate change. it gives me unrest. It slows my work down and I have to learn how to configure things. had I know this issue with the photo viewer was there, I would not upgrade and just run 2 regular HDD in raid for my speed.
what was the tweak you recommended supposed to do? I did it and didnt pay attention so didnt notice before and after and since im new to 7 the whole environment is new. not sarcastic, I really dont know.
btw, when I select all the picture in a folder, why doesnt it show me stats? like how big they are in total? it says 658 picture and under it says "show more details" and when I click it, it goes away and it doesnt show me anything else besides 658 pictures.
is it possible to lock that bottom strip/taskbar in the folder? because sometimes when Im selecting with the mouse, I wind up pulling on it and resizing it.
ok rants over. so basically a little rant and mostly want help haha. thank you all for your time.