Comments on: Open Source Ribbon is a Bad Idea http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/ Utterly random, incoherent and disjointed rants and ramblings... Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:14:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Luke Maciak http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-9237 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:08:14 +0000 http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-9237 <strong>@UniDyne</strong> - In my experience, one place where the ribbon made real difference was MS Access. I can honestly say it made the interface more intuitive. As for Word and Excel, I still have my doubts. But you are right. Ribbon style interface is a good idea mainly for the large application suites. @UniDyne - In my experience, one place where the ribbon made real difference was MS Access. I can honestly say it made the interface more intuitive.

As for Word and Excel, I still have my doubts.

But you are right. Ribbon style interface is a good idea mainly for the large application suites.

]]> by: UniDyne http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-9236 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:54:47 +0000 http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-9236 I, for one, welcome or new ribbon-powered overlords. Seriously, the goal of Ribbon was to flatten the numerous menus/submenus and features of the Office platform and make them more accessible. To me, it seems to do the job. It means more users might be tempted to poke at features of Office they might have otherwise overlooked. It means more users can find the features they need. It is important to remember that Ribbon was created for the typical user - not for developers. That said, MOST applications have no need to implement a Ribbon interface. Ribbon is a concept that lends itself to applications bursting at the seams with features that need to be organized and displayed in an easy-access sort of way. For the majority of applications out there, toolbars and menus do the job perfectly well. Excel in Office 2003 looked quite a bit like toolbar soup to me. Office 2007 is a big improvement. Microsoft flubbed on Ribbon though by not making it a generic library. Also, Microsoft has not one, not two, but THREE implementations of Ribbon. In different APIs. And none of them are .NET. As for Apple using Ribbon - doubt it. Their applications are slick and intuitive enough already. I, for one, welcome or new ribbon-powered overlords.

Seriously, the goal of Ribbon was to flatten the numerous menus/submenus and features of the Office platform and make them more accessible. To me, it seems to do the job. It means more users might be tempted to poke at features of Office they might have otherwise overlooked. It means more users can find the features they need.

It is important to remember that Ribbon was created for the typical user - not for developers.

That said, MOST applications have no need to implement a Ribbon interface. Ribbon is a concept that lends itself to applications bursting at the seams with features that need to be organized and displayed in an easy-access sort of way. For the majority of applications out there, toolbars and menus do the job perfectly well. Excel in Office 2003 looked quite a bit like toolbar soup to me. Office 2007 is a big improvement.

Microsoft flubbed on Ribbon though by not making it a generic library. Also, Microsoft has not one, not two, but THREE implementations of Ribbon. In different APIs. And none of them are .NET.

As for Apple using Ribbon - doubt it. Their applications are slick and intuitive enough already.

]]> by: ScotsDistraction http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-6053 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:13:49 +0000 http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-6053 The Ribbon is one of the more hideous of Microsofts ideas of late. I dual boot XP and Ubuntu, and I use IE7 for three sites - the BBC iPlayer which refuses to use Firefox, a local doggy charity whose website refuses to display on Firefox, and Windows Updates. Occasionally, I'm forced to search for a menu function through the ribbon, and it's utterly counter-intuitive. The thought of using any Microsoft Office product with that kind of interface is laughable - I can't see anyone getting used to it in time, either. It's got to be the most ridiculous change to a UI I've seen in a very long time. I hate to think of people wasting breathing time on developing a similar interface for anything Open Source. The Ribbon is one of the more hideous of Microsofts ideas of late. I dual boot XP and Ubuntu, and I use IE7 for three sites - the BBC iPlayer which refuses to use Firefox, a local doggy charity whose website refuses to display on Firefox, and Windows Updates. Occasionally, I’m forced to search for a menu function through the ribbon, and it’s utterly counter-intuitive. The thought of using any Microsoft Office product with that kind of interface is laughable - I can’t see anyone getting used to it in time, either. It’s got to be the most ridiculous change to a UI I’ve seen in a very long time. I hate to think of people wasting breathing time on developing a similar interface for anything Open Source.

]]> by: Luke Maciak http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-6052 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:28:55 +0000 http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-6052 Not likely. Apple always kinda preferred the "menu goes on top of the screen" design principle. I think it's one of their design guidelines or something. I can't really see them tossing that tradition out to build the unified bulky ribbon. While Microsoft was busy fucking the UI up for everyone, Apple folks redesigned the <a href="http://www.apple.com/iwork/numbers/" rel="nofollow">concept of a spreadsheet application</a> allowing you to combine independent tables on a single sheet. Potentially useful functionality, vs pointless UI redesign - that's the difference between where the two companies choose to spend their big bucks. Not likely. Apple always kinda preferred the “menu goes on top of the screen” design principle. I think it’s one of their design guidelines or something. I can’t really see them tossing that tradition out to build the unified bulky ribbon.

While Microsoft was busy fucking the UI up for everyone, Apple folks redesigned the concept of a spreadsheet application allowing you to combine independent tables on a single sheet. Potentially useful functionality, vs pointless UI redesign - that’s the difference between where the two companies choose to spend their big bucks.

]]> by: Craig Betts http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-6050 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:51:12 +0000 http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/09/04/open-source-ribbon-is-a-bad-idea/#comment-6050 If *nix needs to be more like Microsoft, it should start including a license fee and random kernel panics . . . I sure hope Apple doesn't go down the old ribbon trail . . . If *nix needs to be more like Microsoft, it should start including a license fee and random kernel panics . . .

I sure hope Apple doesn’t go down the old ribbon trail . . .

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