I totally agree that these "new" features seem like a rip from other OSs.

I think the new and bold thing about Windows 7 is that it doesn't suck...as much. You gotta look at it from the perspective of a typical non-techie users. My mom had Vista and whens she needed help it took me quite a while to figure out all the crazy control panels and cryptic hidden settings. She once even deleted her network connection and couldn't get it back. Windows 7 will hopefully reduce the clutter and make it easier to use than Vista.