I've seen some footage of Windows 7. It does have a somewhat of a different look than Windows Vista and has a couple new features it seems. It's requirements, I heard, are similar to Windows Vista as well.
As for it being just Windows Vista with a new skin and problems fixed, what about Windows 95 and 98? I have used both versions and, visually, there was not really any difference at all, and as for features, I didn't notice anything different except my 98 comp could play realplayer files. So I'm not at all surprised Windows 7 looks like Windows Vista.
I am interested in trying it out, but I will wait until the full version is released. Since it's just a beta, more features could be put in for all I know. I will never, however, get a pirated version. I will not risk my computer's stability with a pirated version all because I didn't want to try the real version first.