Running Windows Explorer from Windows 2000 under Windows 7

is anybody else getting tired of discussing this because i am thats for sure

My personal solution to this are Classic Shell and 7 Taskbar Tweaker, both of those replace and fix fundamental features removed/crippled. I know using external programs is not ideal, but I don't mind them as long as they do a good job, and looking at their footprint they don't seem to cause and harm (2MB memory combined and almost no CPU usage).

Yes, these two programs make the taskbar acceptable. Not the file manager though.

Remember that by doing that, you're replacing the shell only, while still running on the whole Windows 7 kernel. We may argue about programs that tamper with the shell (extensions and the like) but all others, at least from the beginning, we don't have any reason to think they'll break.

Indeed. I do not think this will break anything.