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Just on a point of clarity, MS Dynamics came from 4 different ERP solutions MS bought, and they added CRM themselves (correct me if I'm wrong here), I have a background in MS Dynamics - GP (one of the ERP's). I have only ever seen the palettes in Dynamics GP and I think they were last used in version 6 (about 4 or 5 years ago if I remember correctly). They were very similar to undocking a dockable toolbox etc in Visual Studio, only difference is that they would contain the same items as a menu and obviously execute the same code as the menu items would.
Interestingly when I started with Dynamics GP you got 2 flavors of it, 'Great Plains' for enterprise size customers, and 'Dynamics' for smaller customers. Built with the same technology but scaled down. One of the first things MS did when they bought it was to drop the name 'Dynamics' (I think they had a suffix for the smaller package 'Great Plains ___') and soon after they named the 4 ERP's together Dynamics, not sure if they had a change of heart or if that was the plan fr=om the start 
____________________________________________________________
Be brave little warrior, be VERY brave
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I also hated the ribbon when it first came out - I expect most experienced users did. However, for the most part I now prefer it. I say "for the most part" because I don't think it is well suited to all applications (though this may have more to do with how the developers have chosen to arrange the ribbon items as opposed to issues with the ribbon itself).
It does take up more screen space, but today everyone has 20" and larger screens running 1280x1024 or higher - at those screen sizes and resolutions we have a lot more screen real estate to play with then we did when traditional menus and toolbars were implemented on 640x480 screens. Having two different navigation tools (menu and toolbar) combined into one makes sense to me. The larger icons available on the ribbon can be more descriptive to the user than their small toolbar counterparts and they are easier to click on requiring less need to be precise than the smaller toolbar icons (which is also important given that current screen size and resolution would otherwise require a greater degree of accuracy - it may only shave a fraction of a second for users, but that time does add up).
What I hate about ribbons is the contextual ribbons - I hate having to select the contextual tab every time I've selected a related item. They have to find a better way of handling that. My suggestion would be to make the contextual tabs appear seperately - either to the far right of the ribbon or even allow them to be undocked. This is one of those situations where having the contextual toolbar was much quicker because the contextual tab now forces me to make an EXTRA click that I didn't have previously.
I have played around with numerous menu/toolbar interfaces over the years and still use numerous types based on the application needs. I don't think that the ribbon is the "ultimate" interface, but I think it is reasonably good at what it does and has more positives than negatives.
That's my two cents...
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I've gotten used to it in MSOffice, but I never really moused through the old menu system either. I use the keyboard to navigate more often than mouse.
One saving grace of the new Office ribbon is that all the keyboard shortcuts I have hardwired into the old grey cells still work. Another and more important one is that I can see the new keyboard shortcuts by holding the alt key down. This is occasionally a bit confusing since I'm still using Office 2003 at work but not something that bothers me. I've learned so many editorsand word processors in my life that one more UI does no harm.
As far as choosing what system to use for your application you have to first consider your market. What sort of users are you addressing? What do they expect to see? Is this a commercial product and, if so, do appearance, fashion, and critical review matter? Ask yourself all the other questions you always have to ask. when designing software.
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You can usually Minimize the Ribbon - in which case it behaves a little more like a traditional menu, click on a tab and the options drop down - which helps with the screen real estate issue.
My company went with a Ribbon so it looks "modern" and "cutting edge" - but haven't had complaints from customers, and sales seems to like it. Quick Access toolbar is a nice feature (although it can also be implemented with traditional menus).
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Is it a document editing app or a data entry type app or..?
There is no failure only feedback
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At first i was iffy on the ribbon, but the more i used it i started thinking boy would this be great for my app.
Now i tend to use it quite exclusively.
Currently i use the ComponentFactory Krypton Suite and it has a great and easy to use Ribbon Control.
as for the screen space it takes, yeah it can seem to be space hungry on lower resolutions, but minimizing the ribbon works in those cases quite well. Once minimized a properly developed ribbon will act allot like a Normal Menu.
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I agree, I wish they at least made it so you could toggle the ribbon to use the traditional menu - only because everyone knows it, and it does take up much less real estate not to mention memory - ugh.
Know way too many languages... master of none! I'm just another artist navigating the technical shark infested waters trying to find digital serenity!
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I hate it.
What then would then make me want to put one in?
It is all about the sophistication of the users. If the people who are going to use this application are the 'great unwashed' then I'd be more inclined to use the ribbon.
If on the other hand my users were going to be power users, such as the ones who use photoshop and other advanced graphic software, I'd skip the "fisher-price" aspect to the UI and go with tight menus.
I think if the user is going to be expected to put in a lot of time to learn the tool they are going to end up preferring a less-real-estate mode menu, and more of the traditional type.
Other reasons to consider going one way or the other; if the screen real-estate is a particular complaint with a competitor product or is a known feature of the user-base. If the user-base is geriatric as a norm.
_____________________________
Give a man a mug, he drinks for a day. Teach a man to mug...
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I love the Ribbon and one of my favorite things is that I can minimize it making more room for UI than with traditional menu, while keeping the menu items within easy reach.
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What irks me about the whole RIBBON vs Traditional Menu/Buttons is that Microsoft projects the idea that only a very tiny weeny few users prefer the traditional Menu & Buttons interface and that the remaining 99.9% of users just love, absolutely adorn the new RIBBON and could not imagine living this life without it.
When a corporation goes to this extent, expends this level of resources to sell the idea of something new, that alone is enough to proceed with caution. This does not guarantee that there is a problem only that its a sign that you should read/review with caution and not just buy into whatever is said.
I was one of the anti-Ribbon users out there and that’s because I am experienced in using Office and have been for many years/revisions and found the Ribbon to be a time killer and frustrating. I was further ticked off by the idea and over all push by Microsoft and pro-Ribbon people that anyone who did not love the Ribbon was either some old dog who needed to be put down or was just stupid. The majority of anti-ribbon users did not have the mindset that the Ribbon should be banned and the old menu & buttons returned but that the user, the one who pays for the software should be allowed to choose which interface they wish to use.
I’ve gotten to where I can tolerate the Ribbon but still found it less efficient to use. I still maintain that the push to the Ribbon was more about marketing/sales then product improvement. The new Ribbon gave the program a very different look making it easier to sell the idea of an upgrade to a suite that was just about as complete as you can get. I believe the Ribbon was used to pad the Office upgrade to make it look like you were getting more in the upgrade then you otherwise would have.
No matter what the software vendor, Microsoft ion this case, made a huge mistake in how it treated its long time user base in blowing off their desire to not be forced to a new interface and in how it treated users overall who did not like the Ribbon. I would note too that the supposed “perfect” interface of the new Ribbon (as called perfect by those pushing the ribbon on various Office users forums) was changed in Office from 2007 and 2010 and so I guess it wasn’t as “perfect” as the pro-Ribbon crowd claimed.
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I've just been to the nicest funeral I've ever experienced. Non-religious, although there was a quiet moment where some people prayed, and a real celebration of a wonderful man's life, an old boss of mine from many years ago.
It's the first time I've ever left a funeral smiling. Hope mine's like that  
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DaveyM69 wrote: It's the first time I've ever left a funeral smiling. Hope mine's like that
Depends on how good your embalmer is.
Henry Minute
Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain
Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?"
“I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”
I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus!
When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
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Booom-tish!  5...
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Henry Minute wrote: Depends on how good your embalmer is.
Or the one you were with at that last moment.
If you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with...Steven Stills
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You hope you'll leave your funeral smiling? Seems like a good ambition to me.
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Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
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DaveyM69 wrote: It's the first time I've ever left a funeral smiling. Hope mine's like that
Agreed!
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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I'm hoping to leave mine grinning from ear to ear, wearing dark glasses, and riding a large motorcycle. Preferably before anyone realises I'm not actually dead.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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told my wife that if I die before her to throw a party, get drunk and bury me face down so the whole world can kiss my...
Programming is a race between programmers trying to build bigger and better idiot proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots, so far... the universe is winning.
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Two words: gay necrophiles. 
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 guess were back to the incinerator then
Programming is a race between programmers trying to build bigger and better idiot proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots, so far... the universe is winning.
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A quick sprinkling of Magritte[^] too I think.
Henry Minute
Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain
Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?"
“I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”
I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus!
When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
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