Getting back the old Alt-Tab windows switching behavior in Windows 7

To restore the Windows XP Alt-Tab functionality simply launch regedit, add a DWORD named AltTabSettings to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer and set its value to 1.

And here's a one-line PowerShell script which does the above:

Set-ItemProperty HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer AltTabSettings ([int]1)

Not sure about tab order but you can access the old Windows XP looking Alt-Tab like this:

1. Hold down the left alt key

2. Press and release the right alt key, keeping the left alt key held down

3. Then, still keeping the left alt key held down, tab-tab-tab away to you heart's content...

Thanks to BlogSofts via The Road To Know Where

While I tried, liked and upvoted the accepted answer I found this setting by googling a bit more: Windows 7: bring back old Alt+Tab behavior, turn off Aero Peek

1. Go to System Properties (right click Computer in an explorer window and choose properties)
2. Click Advanced System Settings in the left panel
3. You should be on the Advanced Tab, in the performance section, click Settings
4. Uncheck Enable Aero Peek

It turns out you can keep the Windows 7 look, but avoid the odd flashing behaviour (lack of better words) that is Aero Peek.