"seems to have fixed almost all of the problems with UAC's implementation"
I really doubt it was UAC that changed much there - what really did change was everything else as it was adjusted to not assume everything runs with admin privileges. Also - nothing game changing? Really? The fucking search box in the start menu is *nothing* new on the table? Every time I have to use WinXP again, I really do long for it.
Windows 7 is just rebranded Windows Vista after everybody had the time to readjust.
"Honestly though I do have to say, there is absolutely no feature in windows 7 that I find a huge improvement over XP"
Search in the windows menu. The new and improved taskbar, and the death of the quicklaunch bar and its abuse. A system tray that's no longer in your face, and no longer abused ("OH HEY! I R RUNNING! BETTER PUT AN ICON THERE!"). Being able to run Windows as a limited user. An actual 64 bits version. A new and improved driver model. Window compositing.
An operative system that wasn't built ten fucking years ago.
What do you want more? Prancing ponies? Telekinesis? Then what is it that WinXP added to the table that Win95 didn't have?
Windows 7 has so many little nice extra touches (like inbuilt support for ISO files), but the above just is a killer deal already.
"it by default eats more resources, it's interface requires a ton of getting used to, but when you're done adjusting to it, you can finally access things at a similar speed as you could before"
You've got to be kidding me. Putting in a simpler version of terminal with smarter tab-completion in the hands of everybody, that IS a massive improvement to looking into a list of application sorted by arbitrary categorization ("I just installed this time tracking tool. Will it be in Accessories? Will it be in Office? is it here in the first place, or is it a panel widget?).
"Oh but I can make shortcuts!" Well it's still more efficient as you don't have to switch to the desktop to activate them! Provided you do know how to switch back to the desktop and manage those pesky windows. "Oh but I'd put them on the panels!" Grats for being the 1%; pinning things to the taskbar (be it Windows 7's or Unity's) is way more easy to make, manage or use - it's more usable.
Also - back to Unity. I really have to wonder what changed performance wise. Unity is a compiz plugin. Ubuntu already did ship with Compiz. So almost all of the graphics legwork is in the GPU, which is barely used on a normal workload anyway. Ubuntu no longer does indexing either (files are entered into the Zeitgeist search system as you open them, AFAIK). What's left to consume more resources?