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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gevorg - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
I hope there will be an option to display ribbon using small icons without text labels. Otherwise I will switch to some Explorer alternative.yelped - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
There is. Check out the blog post. The part with Alex's custom view.bh192012 - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
I hope there will be an option to display ribbon using text only without small icons. Otherwise I will not have any idea what the squiggly square with the other squares in it means. Perhaps they could organize them under common groups. I suggest: File, Edit, Tools and Help.fhaddad78 - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
Don't bicker and complain about it until you see it in full effect in Windows 8. Microsoft is not a stupid company, they are aware of default resolutions and aspect ratios and it's all being considered. The final product will be sweet. Microsoft has done a 180 in terms of what they are producing.prophet001 - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link
I agree that we should wait and see.However, Microsoft not a stupid company? One word... Vista
B3an - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link
Nothing was that wrong with Vista, dont be such a sheep. It was the companies that made drivers and software for Vista that caused all the major problems, and manufacturers installing Vista on poor hardware. Then theres Nvidias drivers that constantly crashed for the first 6 months.PhoenixEnigma - Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - link
Disagree. I use Vista, XP, and Win7 on a daily basis, and despite Vista being on the best hardware stability-wise (ThinkPad), seeing less intensive use, and having fewer programs installed, it is less stable (and more annoying to work with) than the other two combined.Vista was a flop - MS seems to nail good OS's every other time (98->XP-7), so it's nothing new, and I'd not be surprised to see Win8 continue the pattern.
SmCaudata - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
There are some really nice features that I feel most users here will use. You can minimize the ribbon and then add any shortcut you want to a Quick Access Toolbar. This acts a lot like the quick launch icons on the start bar now. They don't have text and are small.For me this means that I will continues to use shortcut keys and context menus for 99% of my explorer needs. Then when I need to do things like email a file I can have a quick access button since I will always forget that shortcut key.
I'm looking forward to this.
ComputerNovice22 - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
Truthfully I have always hated and probably always will hate the "ribbon" interface... I tried getting used to it when I first started using office 2007 at work and I hated it then and I still currently hate it. Using it on a system that is set to a lower resolution totally SUCKS...Azsen - Monday, August 29, 2011 - link
If anything the menu down the left is a complete waste of time for me. Who seriously stores their files in Libraries -> Documents/Videos/Pictures etc? Some of us probably have massive secondary hard drives and store them in D:\Stuff\Movies etc. I hate how Windows always thinks you should store your important stuff on the C drive in their special directories. I've learned since Windows XP never to put your files there in case your Windows partition gets corrupted and you have to format over it. If you could easily customise that menu down the left that would be great, but I don't know how without some registry hacking I guess.