Remove app preview from iOS 7 multitasking Using an iPad Mini, I preferred the paged, compact style of the app
switcher in iOS 6. In iOS 7 it is replaced by a scrolling interface
where I see 4 app-icons at a time at best and have the huge preview
cards quickly swishing through the screen.

While I can imagine the preview to become useful when e.g. writing in
one app and occasionally needing to steal a glance at another app
without actually switching apps, most of the time I find them merely
distracting; Especially the largely different movement speed of the
preview cards and the app icons. 

Are there any possibilities to configure the behaviour/design of this
interface short of a jailbreak?
No, this isn't configurable on iOS 7. 

We'll have to see what the jailbreak community comes up with for people wanting an alternate idiom or design for fast switching of apps. 

As a sidenote, you can still use four finger swipe gestures to switch apps.