Windows Explorer Gets Ribbon Interface in Windows 8
by Andrew Cunningham on August 29, 2011 2:35 PM ESTThe Windows 8 details continue: Today on the Building Windows 8 blog, Alex Simons takes us through some changes to the Windows Explorer, chief among them the fact that Explorer will now be using Microsoft's Ribbon interface.
Love it or hate it, more and more Microsoft applications have been picking up the Ribbon interface since it was introduced in Office 2007 - proponents say it organizes features intuitively and exposes previously buried functionality, while detractors say it contradicts years of learning on the part of its users and takes up too much space on screen. If you don't like the Ribbon, I've got more bad news for you: Simons notes, among other things, that users will not be able to switch back to any sort of classic interface.
For a complete list of changes as well as the thinking behind this change, the blog post is very long and very informative as always - just know that it's probably not going to change your mind about the Ribbon if you've already made it up.
Source: Building Windows 8 Blog
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tayb - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
Whine less. Press the little arrow and it will be minimized until you need it again just like how it is implemented everywhere else. Sorry you are stuck in 2001 and addicted to dropdown menus. The rest of us appreciate the highly customizable and easily accessed ribbon.The only thing I wish I saw but I don't was tabbed explorer windows. It's so outdated to have to open an entire new explorer window when it could and should be a tab.
frozentundra123456 - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
Sorry, I have to disagree with you. I absolutely hate the ribbon interface in Office. And I know from reading a lot of posts on the internet that I am not the only one that feels that way. You know it must be obtuse when Microsoft has to set up a program on their website to direct users of the ribbon where to find commands that used to be clearly visible.For instance, in Excel 2010, you have to click print, print preview, and then find the little line that says page setup to format a page. With drop down menus, all you had to do was click file, and the page set up command instantly appeared.
This is progress?? I dont see it. And Excel 2007 was even worse. All the major commands were hidden until the clicked the stupid looking circular thing. WHY???
And I am not stuck in 2001. I just do not like change that makes things more complicated to do the same basic commands. And speaking of "easily accessible", how is the ribbon easier than just a drop down menu that displays the command. Microsoft seems to be hung up on making every command be represented by some sort of icon rather than a written command.
Assimilator87 - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link
I have something called an adjustable stand, which happened to come with my Dell U2211H, but is sold separately as well. It has this neat feature where you can rotate it. That gives me 1920 pixels of vertical space. I think they call it portrait mode.cicatriz63 - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link
Or you could also learn to use the new menu instead of complaining about things and not having a clue. If you click on Page Layout tab in Excel 2010 you will see a section called *gasp* Page Setup that has nearly every single option in the Page Setup dialog, at the top of the page instead of in dialog box obstructing your view of the document. And if the option you want isn't listed there then you click the little arrow in the bottom right of the section and the actual Page Setup dialog will open.So how is clicking File-Page setup faster than clicking on Page Layout and then the option you want again?
And when the Ribbon is minimized it actually takes up LESS vertical space then a standard menu that if you click is expanded down 700 pixels with 100 different menu items.
mino - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
Simple, at the time of O2003 and OOO1, I thought: thank god for o2003 compared to that starcrap mess.Scroll further 5 yrs: Thank god for that LO 3.4 barely-office97-class-useable for saving me from that o2007/2010 abomination.
I have tried, really tried to use o2007+, there are great many features I miss on LO.
BUT, they are just not worth consistently warring the market-leading productivity eliminator from MS: The Ribbon.
Hell, even Lotus Notes is more useable, had it not crashe more often than Opera 5 on 2010 flash :D
zero2dash - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
eomhotnikkelz - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
The vertical space here is SMALLER than the vertical space in current windows 7. I suggest you read the following for more details.http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/08/29/impr...
B3an - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link
What? I suggest you READ that post. If you cant do that properly then they even have a picture to show you that Win 8 has more vertical space than Win 7.snarfbot - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
it looks really messy. why not it call it file manager instead? because thats what it resembles, win 3.1 file manager.mino - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
Do not insult Windows 3.1 file manager.Managed to make that thing collaborate in under an hour back in the time.
Know the fun part? File manager was MORE customizeable that W8 Exploder looks to become ...