system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What are the disadvantages and differences of the Windows 'registry' model vs. whatever Mac OS X and Linux use?

I've heard for years that the registry "sucks" and it's the prime culprit for Windows installs seeming to decline in performance over time. So what makes whatever Mac OS X and Linux uses better? Why doesn't Microsoft abandon the registry already if it "sucks" and is there a practical way to "clean up" your registry and make a Windows XP or Windows 7 machine "run like new" without a total OS reinstall?
gpt
Explained like your five:

The Windows Registry is a big truck made to hold everyones stuff, whereas in MacOS and Linux everyone has their own car. The big truck is really powerful, but as more and more people throw their junk on it, it slows down and starts to get passed by all the little cars.

Now that that's out of the way:

Microsoft has abandoned it, its usage in modern applications is discouraged, it's there for backwards compatibility. Microsoft likes to keep people happy by not breaking applications - to remove it would break almost everything that already exists.

The registry is a small source of slowdown, but in Windows 7 it shouldn't be enough to care about. I'd check other sources of slowdown like how many apps and services you have running.