I run msconfig and I see all these useless programs (ex Adobe), Microsoft services (ex Media Sharing) running at startup. I unchecked a large number of them and my computer and my father's computer instantly ran faster.

This is why Windows becomes slow over time.

Microsoft needs to stop loading Microsoft Services at startup, that most users never ever use. Have just one listener service (that waits for requests) that only loads specific services on demand.

Also, they should make it very very hard for 3rd party programs to run at startup (only with admin priv, through the control panel), and never let programs insert itself into startup.

A 3rd party program should only run at startup if it's icon is in the Startup Taskbar Folder, someplace a user can easily find and delete if they don't want it there. Also users should be prompted when this is being done.