Xaron, do you really need per pixel lighting? (and yes, I know all about it) Have you managed any decent art with DX7?
DX7 will be around for years yet. Do you think you'll be able to keep those fancy per pixel shaders and lighting effects looking the same in a few years when drivers and graphics cards change? It's hard enough to get something working properly now. DX7 is meat and potatoes stuff. It's simple, it works solidly, and it has more chance of working flawlessly in a few years than many other things.
Eventually though, all things will go the way of an emulator, so there's no point being paranoid about it.
DX7 will be around for years yet. Do you think you'll be able to keep those fancy per pixel shaders and lighting effects looking the same in a few years when drivers and graphics cards change? It's hard enough to get something working properly now. DX7 is meat and potatoes stuff. It's simple, it works solidly, and it has more chance of working flawlessly in a few years than many other things.
Eventually though, all things will go the way of an emulator, so there's no point being paranoid about it.