Windows 7 UI is like Windows XP but prettier thanks to GPU acceleration. Compared to the XP generation, it had better security, 64 bit support out of the box, it was an "internet age" version of Windows, but it could still run offline and wasn't too obnoxious with ads, telemetry, etc...
Windows 7 effectively cleaned up some details, and by the time of windows 7 the vendors shipping broken drivers already had to correct for NT6 changes or deal with their hardware not working.
Windows 7 UI is like Windows XP but prettier thanks to GPU acceleration. Compared to the XP generation, it had better security, 64 bit support out of the box, it was an "internet age" version of Windows, but it could still run offline and wasn't too obnoxious with ads, telemetry, etc...
It definitely got downhill after that.