I had a similar reaction (from a systems standard perspective on a mac, as I was not previously a WL6 user), but to be honest, after I spent considerable time tweaking and setting up a custom workspace, I really love WL7’s workflow.
I started by making it more WL6-like. Not because I have any love/connection to WL6, but because WL7 has no real manual, while the WL6 manual is excellent. Making WL7 look/act like WL6 made the WL6 manual’s advice more servicable, and got me rolling. Once I got the hang of things, and with my new-found comfort in WL gui-shaping from the exercise, I aggressively axed parts I didn’t use, and moved things around to suit my needs.
At this point my workspace no longer resembles WL6 or any other DAW I use. Instead it looks/feels very customized, and saves me tons of clicks and hunting around. It’s an investment in time to be sure, and I can’t really compare to what y’all had in the older version. But i get things done better/faster than before, and use WL7 a lot more regularly (I’m still a soundBlade user too - it’s gui is far more minimalist and key-driven, but impossible to customize). I understand folks don’t always have time to start over, and if something works you don’t really want to. But if you like the sound/features of WL7 you should be able to tailor your gui to something more comfortable with a little time and tlc. YMMV.