Are there viable alternatives to a "three level pre-empt" with a good seven card suit?
I have a friend that preempts at the two level with defense and at the three level without. He doesn't get very good results from that treatment.

In my opinion, AKQxxxx xx xx xx should be opened 3S in any seat and vulnerability. If you were 7321 instead of 7222, you could consider 1S if your partnership opens light. If you're in third seat and RHO opened, you might consider 4S nonvulnerable.

The larger question is a question of philosophy. Preempts can be used primarily destructively (that is, as an attempt to interfere in opponents' auction), or as a mix of a constructive and destructive bid. If you preempt destructively, partner can never raise you to game (either 3NT or 4 of your major) based on power. If 2S could be anything from KJxxxx xxx xx xx to AKQxxxx xx xx xx, what is partner to do with xx Axxx AKQx Axx? If you have the first hand, 4S is dicey and 3NT is hopeless. If you have the second, 6S and 6NT are excellent contracts. Partner just has to raise you to 4S and hope. If a three-level preempt contains both KQ-seventh and out, and 7-low and out, then partner can never raise you to 3NT, and even extending your preempt with a 3-card holding in your suit is  a risky proposition.

It comes down to this: If your preempts are primarily destructive, you'll often be making the final decision for your partnership based on 13 cards, while your opponents will be using 26 during the auction. Your partnership will miss some good games and make some bad sacrifices. You'll make bad leads on defense more often and opponents will have more information about your distribution. Against that, opponents will get to the wrong strain or level a little more often than at other tables.

I don't think that's a good tradeoff, and few experts do either.