Ribbon (computing)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In GUI-based application software, a ribbon is a form of toolbar, combined with a tab bar. Recent releases of some Microsoft applications have embraced this form with an intricate modular ribbon as their main interface.
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[edit] Ribbons in Microsoft Office 2007
Microsoft implemented ribbons in Microsoft Office 2007 as part of Microsoft Fluent User Interface[1] and replaces menus, toolbars and many task panes. Microsoft says that this will consolidate all related functionality in one place and hence improve usability.[citation needed]
[edit] Ribbons in other software
Microsoft has started the process of acquiring a patent on the ribbon user interface concept[2] and licenses the ribbon design to third-party developers royalty-free, as long as the user interface conforms to the Microsoft's design guidelines and they can get an approval from Microsoft. The ribbon design guidelines are confidential and an evaluation copy is only available when a non-disclosure agreement has been signed.[3][4] However, until the patent has been filed, one does not have to agree to the license to implement this user interface concept on one's own. Since April 2008, the Ribbon interface is available as a free feature pack to Visual C++ 2008.[5] Since the implementation in Visual Studio is not the same as in Office 2007 subtle differences in functionality and handling might have been introduced.
The Ribbon has been licensed by Autodesk for AutoCAD 2009, Mindjet starting with MindManager 7, SnagIt, Nitro PDF, and ConeXware for PowerArchiver 11.[citation needed] A ribbon interface is also used in the upcoming versions of Paint and WordPad included in Windows 7, Windows Live Movie Maker, and Microsoft Office 14.[citation needed]
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Patent "Land grab"
A veteran Microsoft developer left Microsoft partially over his disagreement with the companies "sweeping land grab" including its attempt to patent the Ribbon interface. He refused to "contribut[e] to the eventual death of programming."[6] He states: "Microsoft itself represents a grave threat to the future of software development through its increasing inclination to stifle competition through legal shenanigans."[7][8]
Many proponents of free software have expressed beliefs that the patent cannot be acquired due to the ambiguity of prior art.[9] As no patent has been acquired yet[update], 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.[10] It has also been stated that Microsoft will not give their approval to products competing directly with Microsoft's; Jensen Harris, Group Program Manager of Microsoft's Office User Experience team, has stated on his blog that "if you are building a program which directly competes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, or Access (the Microsoft applications with the new UI), you can't obtain the royalty-free license."[11] Some have also raised concerns that the design guidelines might contain legal loopholes that give Microsoft a basis for future lawsuits against products exploiting this concept, and they would not be able to inform others due to the non-disclosure agreement.[4]
KDE developer Jarosław Staniek notes that the ribbon concept has historically appeared extensively as "tabbed toolbars" in applications such as Macromedia HomeSite, Dreamweaver and Borland Delphi.[9] However, most of these implementations are not intended to entirely supplant an application's main menu bar and toolbars. On the first look the Ribbon entirely supplants the menu bars and toolbars,[not in citation given][12] but no application that makes use of it can operate without at least one not-context-sensitive menu, usually a File menu, and one conventional tool bar providing most common actions like Undo and Redo (as in Microsoft Office 2007 and later). There are also claims that the applications pointed out as prior art do not include a number of features that distinguish the Ribbon UI, such as dynamic scaling[13] and extensibility.[14] However tabbed toolbars in Borland Delphi were extendible (customizable), in the same way as the conventional toolbars are for years.
[edit] Customer dislike
Many long-time and present users of Microsoft Office are upset with the lack of choice between "The Ribbon" and traditional menus in the new 2007 Office system. Add-ons have been developed for providing the old menu interface as one of the tabs.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Office Fluent User Interface
- ^ "Licensing the 2007 Microsoft Office User Interface". Jensen Harris. 2006-11-21. http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/11/21/licensing-the-2007-microsoft-office-user-interface.aspx#1123764. Retrieved on 2008-08-22.
- ^ "Microsoft Evaluation License: 2007 Microsoft Office System User Interface". license agreement of the Office guidelines evaluation copy. http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb218965.aspx. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
- ^ a b Joe Wilcox (2006-11-21). "Microsoft Cuts the Ribbon on Office 2007 UI Licensing". Microsoft Watch. http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/business_applications/microsoft_cuts_the_ribbon_on_office_2007_ui.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
- ^ "Microsoft Visual C++ Feature Pack". Microsoft Corporation. 2008-04-22. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D466226B-8DAB-445F-A7B4-448B326C48E7&displaylang=en. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ Veteran developer ditches Microsoft for open source, Mike Gunderloy
- ^ Mike - What's Going On Here? at the Internet Archive
- ^ http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Mike_Gunderloy_on_Access_Perfection_.aspx
- ^ a b Jarosław Staniek (2005-11-13). "KDE to sue MS over Ribbon GUI?". kdedevelopers.org. http://kdedevelopers.org/node/1617. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
- ^ Mike Weller (2006-11-22). "Office 2007 UI License". Slashdot. http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/22/0140215. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
- ^ Jensen Harris (2006-11-21). "Licensing the 2007 Microsoft Office User Interface". MSDN Blogs. http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/11/21/licensing-the-2007-microsoft-office-user-interface.aspx. Retrieved on 2006-02-01.
- ^ Jensen Harris (2005-09-14) Enter the Ribbon. MSDN Blogs. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ Jensen Harris (2005-10-18). Scaling Up, Scaling Down. MSDN Blogs. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ Jensen Harris (2006-06-27). Let's Talk About Customization. MSDN Blogs. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
[edit] External links
- The Story of the Ribbon presentation from Jensen Harris at the MIX (Microsoft) conference (including video)
- Examples of Ribbons and discussion about their use
- Office UI Licensing site
- A non-commercial free Ribbon library for Microsoft .NET Framework (Windows Forms)
- A non-commercial free Ribbon library for Microsoft .NET Framework (WPF)
- Free Ribbon library from Microsoft for WPF with support for Office and Windows 7 style
- How to use and add ribbon to applications?
- Active Teach Ribbon for Office
- Interface to Google Maps
- MathType Ribbon Tab in Word 2007
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