Maybe, but there’s no reason why a thoughtfully engineered Win7 clone DE on a lightweight Linux couldn’t run just as well or better on the same hardware.

Your opinion. Win 7 was the best Windows UI, both in looks (Aero) and usability. It was abandoned primarily because Microsoft was trying to achieve some hybrid desktop/tablet/mobile UI that worked poorly for all form factors. Win 11+ (or whatever the next version is called) would be well-suited to return to an Aero-like UI.