Brand New Laptop Won't Stream Videos Smoothly?

I shouldn't really be surprised but when I received my new laptop in the mail today, I had certain expectations. I've spent most of the day setting it up and getting things ready to roll and I went to stream Netflix and saw this. very. halting. stop. and. start. playback. Worse than the old crappy laptop I'm replacing! So I google and find that I need Adobe Flashplayer. I check the programs that were loaded by the manufacturer and it wasn't included. Only Adobe Reader, whatever that is. So I downloaded that. I downloaded Java for the hell of it, though I'm not sure if that was necessary.

I restarted the computer and tried Netflix again. Same. exact. problem. I'm pissed, to be frank. I haven't purchased a new computer in 12 years and I remember the first one I bought came fully loaded with virtually every program I needed to hit the ground running.

I have Windows 7 on the new laptop. I couldn't bare the thought of tackling Windows 8 so I chickened out. things to look for in the computer, or things that I should download, I'd be ever so grateful. It's nearly midnight here and I'm just going to go to bed without my favorite bedtime movie to lull me to sleep. Cry me a river. I know. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what you have to say.