i think it runs very fast compared to vista(no brainer).......and to me runs comparable to xp. but if you go from xp to windows7...i could agree with you that you would notice a difference--i've really had no freeze to consider mentioning...but for this early in the beta...have expected more than less(second week for me)
this may be the first time microsoft got it right since windows2000...jury still out
ps...the skype beta that accompanies this is impressive as well