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Err, no, WinXP was the best OS Microsoft ever made.
Win 7 has countless annoying usability issues - some of which are fixed by Classic Shell and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker, including usability issues with the start menu.

One of the most glaring problems is the lack of horizontal scrollbar in Windows Explorer in the folders pane. And when expanding a folder with double-click (rather than clicking "+", in the folders pane or on a pop-up folder selection box), for no reason, it spasmodically scrolls up and you can't see what just expanded!

You should be able to disable Aero Peek, or you can use a fantastic third party tool to customize how the taskbar behaves.

I think you would love 7+ Taskbar Tweaker http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker Give it a try. It really improved my experience and usability with Windows 7 taskbar.

http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker

are needed to overcome the deficiencies in Window 7 task starting. I use the Start button to open infrequently used programs or Control Panel. I only pin Windows Explorer (which I use heavily). All other common apps go to RocketDock. I keep the desktop clean.

I use 7 Taskbar Tweaker because the default unchangeable behavior of the taskbar insists on grouping icons for the same app together. I want them in the order opened. For example I may have 4 notepad windows open. I don't want them stacked and I don't necessarily want them all grouped together. Only 7TT (or similar 3rd-party products) seem to allow this.

RocketDock

7 Taskbar Tweaker

You can't. Because they didn't like the look of the big, floor-to-ceiling look of the old XP system, they shrunk it all down so that it only shows 5-6 items at a time and has a scrollbar.

In short, they made it harder to use and less functional than the XP Start Menu

ClassicShell to the rescue.

Also, 7 Taskbar Tweaker.

If you get a laptop then get a docking station too so if she does not like the small screen of the laptop or the keyboard, she can dock the laptop and plug in a big monitor and a regular keyboard. She can always undock the laptop to go anywhere with it. Buy a quality pc. Lots of junk out there. I put together a desktop pc using a Gigabyte X58 motherboard and a Intel I7 quad core cpu with 6gb of ram. It was overkill. Look at an expensive model then take note of the specs then look at a cheap pc and do the same. Compare costs and features. Google the brand or parts and see other comments about them. Windows 7 vs Mac OS? I always thought Mac looked better but since I do not use them I cannot say which is better. The market shows 10% for Apple and nearly 90% for Windows so that says something. Windows 7 is half baked. Boy is it disorganized. It is XP and Vista thrown up in the air then picked up and rebranded. Microsoft needs to hire people who have a design flair plus those that actually read the complaints about previous versions of Windows and will work to fix the problems. Something as simple as changing the highlight color of a menu is not possible in Windows 7 with using a program like Resource Hacker and good luck finding the image. Example: right click on your desktop. Cannot change that nearly invisible highlight to what you want using the aero interface. Here are some programs I have found to make it easier to use Windows 7: Use Xyplorer http://www.xyplorer.com/ This is a file manager. Windows 7 folders are a mess. Xyplorer can be customized. See website. Try for 30 days. Costs $42 afterward. Worth it. You can easily increase the size of the text and the spacing by using your mouse scroll wheel or ctrl + shift. See the screenshots at the site. Makes reading the text so much easier. For search use "Everything" http://voidtools.com/ or "Locate32" http://www.locate32.net/ Instantly find anything you are looking for. Windows 7 search just won't. They are FREE. Change the Start menu use "ClassicShell" - FREE http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/index.html Use "Ultimate Windows Tweaker" to fix some of the problems. FREE. http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-v2-a-tweak-ui-for-windows-7-vista Use "Iconoid" - FREE http://www.sillysot.com/ to remember your icon positions. There are 32bit and 64bit versions. In Windows 7 if you hold down the Ctrl button then use your mouse scroll wheel you can increase the size of the icons and text. That is a nice feature but.....When you resize them the icons go all over the place and will not return to their original positions when you revert back to a smaller size. With Iconoid installed you just right click on the desktop and click on Manage Desktop Icons and restore the positions. Windows Vista-7 Taskbar Color Changer - FREE. http://grantman.net/info/win7tbcc 7 Taskbar Tweaker - FREE. http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker AveHTMLPreview - Windows Explorer no longer shows thumbnails of HTML files. This functionality has simply been removed. This addon for Explorer will show thumbnails for HTML, MHTL and URL files. FREE. http://www.aveapps.com/htmlpreviews.html ShellMenuNew: Remove Items From ‘New’ Menu Of Windows Explorer. FREE. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shell_menu_new.html Use MiniTool Partition Home Edition http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html to partition your large hard drive without losing any files