Consider trying out Linux+KDE, if the reason to use 7 isn't specific software on older hardware. It feels like a continuation of Windows 7 as a desktop for the most part.
It really depends how you configure it. It has an amazing wealth of configuration settings and that's before diving into the whole addon rabbit hole. This is really what I love about KDE. Everyone else is now going for the apple opinionated design "Just use it like we meant it to be used" philosophy. Even other Linux desktops like gnome (in fact gnome is one of the worst offenders)
With KDE you can simply align it with your own opinions.
With KDE you can simply align it with your own opinions.