Ribbon (computing)

In computing, a ribbon is a set of toolbars placed on several tabs. Microsoft products released since 2007 have introduced a form of modular ribbon as their main interface, where large tabbed toolbars, filled with graphical buttons and other controls, are grouped by functionality. Such ribbons use tabs to expose different sets of controls, eliminating the need for many parallel toolbars. Contextual tabs are tabs that appear only when the user needs them. For instance, in a word processor, an image-related tab may appear when the user selects an image in a document, allowing the user to interact with that image.

The usage of the term ribbon dates from the 1980s and was originally used as a synonym for what is now more commonly known as a (non-tabbed) toolbar. However, in 2007, Microsoft Office 2007 used the term to refer to its own implementation of tabbed toolbars bearing heterogeneous controls, which Microsoft calls "The Fluent UI". Thus, Microsoft popularized the term with a new meaning, although similar tabbed layouts of controls had existed in previous software from other vendors. The new design was intended to alleviate the problem of users not finding or knowing of the existence of available features in the Office suite.

Early use
Use of a ribbon interface dates from the early 1990s in productivity software such as Microsoft Word and Wordstar as an alternative for toolbar: It was defined as a portion of a graphical user interface consisting of a horizontal row of controls (e.g. including heterogeneously-sized buttons and drop-down lists bearing icons), typically user-configurable.

A toolbar interface, called the ribbon, has been a feature of Microsoft Word from the early DOS-based Word 5.5 (ca. 1990) and the first Windows-based versions (activated by the "View | Ribbon" menu option ), for which early advertising referred to the use of "the Ribbon to replace an endless string of commands to let you format characters by eye instead of memory".

Microsoft software
With the release of Microsoft Office 2007 came the "Fluent User Interface" or "Fluent UI", which replaced menus and customizable toolbars with a single "Office menu", a miniature toolbar known as "quick-access toolbar" and what came to be known as the ribbon: Multiple tabs, each holding a toolbar bearing buttons and occasionally other controls. Toolbar controls have heterogeneous sizes and are classified in visually distinguishable groups. The name ribbon was later purported to have originated from an early design idea by which commands were placed on a long pane, that could be rolled like a medieval scroll; the name was retained after the scrolling mechanism was replaced by tabs.

Microsoft applications implementing ribbons each have a different set of tabs which house user controls for that application. Within each tab, various related controls may be grouped together. Double clicking the active tab or clicking the minimize button hides the command panel, leaving only the tabs visible. Repeating this action reveals the pane. The ribbon consolidates the functionality previously found in menus, toolbars and occasionally task panes into one area.

In Microsoft Office 2007, only Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint implemented ribbons. With the release of Microsoft Office 2010, however, ribbons were implemented in the rest of the Microsoft Office applications. Microsoft Office 2010 added additional end-user customization support to its user interface.

Microsoft gradually implemented ribbons in other software. The fourth wave of Windows Live Essentials applications, including as Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker and Writer, featured a ribbon. On Windows 7, Paint and WordPad feature ribbons. On Windows 8, File Explorer followed suit. Ribbons also appeared in SQL Server Report Builder, Dynamics CRM 2011, Microsoft WebMatrix, Microsoft Mathematics v4.0, Microsoft EMET 4.0 and Microsoft Message Analyzer. , however, Internet Explorer, Notepad and Visual Studio did not have a ribbon.

Other software developers
Since the introduction of ribbons in Microsoft Office 2007, there has been an uptake of this type of interface in applications created by other developers, especially those creating tools for Microsoft related products. Microsoft facilitated the adoption with the release of Windows 7 and the Windows Vista platform update, which included built-in ribbon framework APIs, introduced to allow developers to integrate a ribbon toolbar into their applications. The Nielsen Norman Group published some examples in a 2008 GUI showcase report.

In June 2008 Red Flag Software released RedOffice 4.0 beta, a Chinese fork of OpenOffice.org including a new user interface sharing many design ideas of ribbon. In November 2008 Sun Microsystems started the project Renaissance to improve the user interface of OpenOffice.org. So far the prototypes of the project are frequently seen as similar to ribbons, but this has resulted in some criticism from users.

Reaction
Prior to the introduction of ribbons in Office 2007, the user interface for its Office suites had barely changed since the introduction of Office 97 on 19 November 1996. (Office 2000 and Office 2003 released relatively minor upgrades compared to Office 97, which itself was considered to be something of a milestone compared to the Office 95).

Because of this, users became accustomed to this style of interface, as was common on many productivity products at the time. When Microsoft implemented ribbons, it was met with mixed reactions. Redmondmag.com reported that power users feel the ribbons take "too much time and patience to learn." Richard Ericson from Computerworld noted that experienced users might find difficulties adapting to the new interface, and that some tasks take more key-presses or clicks to activate. Though the ribbon can be hidden by double-clicking on the open tab, PC World wrote that the ribbons crowds the Office work area, especially for notebook users; the customization options available in the original version didn't allow users to rearrange or remove the predefined commands, although it can be minimized. Others have called its large icons distracting. An online survey conducted by ExcelUser reports that a majority of respondents had a negative opinion of the change, with advanced users being "somewhat more negative" than intermediate users; the self-estimated reduction in productivity was an average of about 20%, and "about 35%" for people with a negative opinion.

A reason behind the negative reaction is Microsoft's decision to abandon backward-compatibility with previous versions and remove the traditional menu system, rather than leaving it as an option that could be activated if needed. Users of previous versions had to relearn the user interface in order to accomplish what they already knew how to do, and some configuration options were eliminated. The decision to abolish menus has been likened to the Coca-Cola company's infamous New Coke campaign in its abandonment of the existing user base. Microsoft Office 2011 for the Macintosh, while employing the ribbon, also retains the menu system in the Mac menu bar.

Other users claim that once the new interface is learned, the average user can create "professional-looking documents faster". One study reported fairly good acceptance by users except highly experienced users and users of word processing applications with a classical WIMP interface, but was less convinced in terms of efficiency and organisation. Microsoft has released a series of small programs, help sheets, videos and add-ins to help users learn the new interface more quickly, and the Office 2010 version allows users to partially—but not fully—configure the Ribbon tabs and commands.

Patent controversy
Proponents of free software, such as KDE developer Jarosław Staniek have expressed beliefs that patents regarding ribbons cannot be acquired due to the ambiguity of prior art. As no patent has been acquired, they assert that anyone who has not signed the license can legally implement the concept in their applications without having to conform to Microsoft's requirements. Staniek notes that the ribbon concept has historically appeared extensively as "tabbed toolbars" in applications such as Sausage Software's HotDog, Macromedia HomeSite, Dreamweaver and Borland Delphi. Lotus developed early ribbon UIs for its product eSuite. Screen shots are still available in an IBM redbook about eSuite (page 109ff).