I'll just jump in to this topic to say I like XP much better too. I'm not worried too much about losing the updates, I have anti virus and a firewall installed.
I've got a Dell XPS 9100 with an Intel core i7 extreme cpu with 2.33 GHz and 12 GB of ram. It actually boots up slower that my XP machine and with less start up programs installed.
Yes it is a Win 7 machine and I've had trouble with it and had to get the gurus here to help me sort it all out with the permissions and things. It just doesn't fit my needs I don't like not being able to tweek it the way I want it.
I rarely use it and I'll just stick with my trusty XP machine, it has enough ram and speed to suit me just fine.
Just my 2 cents in this topic.