After moving to Windows 7 a few friends have written asking me where the recent items list is. Took me a bit but have now found it.

Right click the 'Taskbar' (the long bar at the bottom of screen), click on 'Properties' -> select the 'Start Menu' tab (should be the middle tab at the top) -> click 'Customize' -> then scroll down to find the 'Recent Items' it's towards the bottom of the list, scroll right to the bottom then scroll back up slightly.

hope that helps for all those missing their Recent Items.