I know this is a longshot... but...

In the taskbar options, there is a 'small icons' option that makes the icons tiny and the taskbar maybe 1/2 the height. However, it makes the icons waaaay too small and ugly. There is maybe 4 times more empty space per icon-space with small icons as opposed to normal icons. I was wondering if there was a way to scale the icons back up to around 66% size, which would make them less ugly and reduce empty space. I don't like how much space the taskbar takes up in W7, but the icons are horrible-looking when in 'small icons' mode.

Have you looked into some of the theme programs like WindowsBlinds? I'm not certain if they can get exactly what you want, but I know that they have the ability to do operations like turn XP into a 7 style theme.