Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I found this while searching for existing queries, I agree with the OP's description, and there is no resolution here. My specific gripe is that on 7, there is no option to enable display of the file name with each photo. I really miss that feature. Is there an option somewhere to revert to the XP interface? A "classic" theme/style, perhaps? It's bad enough having to waste time restoring the settings you like, without finding out that they no longer exist.
While I'm on the subject of reverting to classic styles to correct dumbing down, is there any way to take Windows Explorer back to the old format for extra large photo folder icons? To me the oblique views are a waste of space that could be used to show more recognisable thumbnails, and more of them, as the older format did. I take a lot of photos with more or less subtly different subjects on virtually identical backgrounds, and in the oblique view, especially if the subject is a small bird, say, the background is about all that is identifiable, if that. Instead, there's a kind of faux nostalgia for the good old days when you just cut down another tree, woodchipped it, printed your photos on the pulp, and leafed through the display sleeves ham-fistedly, wishing they were better organised. Do people really need that kind of crutch to persuade themselves that the computer is not a frightening thing? If so, at least there should be an option for those who don't. Perhaps that rant should be the subject of another thread.