So you're a software developer and want your program to have a shiny
"ribbon" interface just like Office 2007? Well, guess what--Microsoft patented the hell out of it! This should not surprise anybody. However, there is good news for developers, or some of them, at least. Microsoft has announced that it has "
created a royalty-free licensing program that will enable developers to build applications that have the look and feel of the new 2007 Office system applications." The license is perpetual, meaning once Microsoft grants you the license it can't turn around and revoke or change it later on. However there are, as you might imagine, some "guidelines" Microsoft wants you to follow when building your own ribbony apps, and they take the form of a 120-page document. Though the deal sounds largely positive for software developers, there is one significant catch: Microsoft won't license their ribbon UI patents for products that compete directly with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, or Access. This is a sensible move for Microsoft, but a bummer for the makers of competing products who stand a lot to gain from making products that look and act just like the dominant office suite in the marketplace.
You can check out the press release and a canned interview about the new licensing program at the link above, but I heartily recommend you skip it and instead head over to
Jensen Harris' blog. Harris is Microsoft's Group Program Manager for the Office UI and lays everything out in plain English. He also links to a preview of the guidelines (you have to sign an NDA to get at the full 120-page document) and a Channel 9 video in which he talks to Microsoft laywer Judy Jennison about the program.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-22-2006 @ 2:34PM
Richard said...
Seems that now the real reason behind the switch from menus and toolbars to the ribbon comes out.
Microsoft wants to get users used to a patented product that competitors are forestalled from copying. Nice move for Microsoft not so good for the rest of us.
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11-22-2006 @ 2:56PM
Alex M said...
Now that's silly.
When I saw the Ribbon thing for the first time, I immediately thought of Blender's interface. Granted, there are several differences (MS's is prettier and *maybe* more usable), but the gist of it seems the same to me.
Ugh, I hate patents.
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11-22-2006 @ 5:09PM
ToddZ said...
Microsoft has a bit of nerve to patent the style of a software feature at the same time they release the closest thing to an iPod clone this side of Taiwan.
Maybe they could concentrate on making their cake actually taste better, not worry about competitors who might use similar colored frosting.
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11-22-2006 @ 8:05PM
Gardiner Westbound said...
The ribbon interface is considerably less than a burning issue with me, and I suspect many others. My copy of MS Office is a couple of generations behind and is good enough to do everything I want it to do.
If and when I feel compelled to make a change on my Windows machine I'll go to FOSS OpenOffice. I have it on my Linux machine and it works fine.
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11-23-2006 @ 7:07AM
Daniel Boone said...
I'm really amazed. This should be considered as great news for devs (the final words are "the office ribbon is freely usable"), but all you find to do is spit on intellectual property. Haven't you read all the EULAs, "about boxes" etc. of any software you test / use (eg http://desktop.google.com/en/eula.html, "Intellectual property") ?
BTW, where did you read any mention of "patent" for Office Ribbon ? I just read about licensing agreements.
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11-23-2006 @ 2:38PM
shadekh said...
The ribbon takes some getting used to, but once you work with it for a while, it really grows on you. it becomes a chore to then use earlier versions of Word. Admittedly, newer word features like the new equations builder and the integrated word count are more helpful to me, but this is nice as well.
However, Microsoft has not, and probably cannot, patent UI, and those who want a feature similar to the ribbon would implement it nevertheless. This is probably more of a guideline, and an attempt to highlight this new innovative feature.
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11-24-2006 @ 11:38AM
Fabulo said...
That's a whild bet for the popularity of the ribbon interface. I'm not convinced it'll revolutionize the interface concept.
The ribbon is a sort of contextual, modeless docked preference page. And like it was said, belnder did it before (and plenty of others too)
Good luck to Microsoft with changing the hell out of the interface just when the 'alternatives' are turning out to be just as good as the real thing, at least for most users most of the time.
I used abiword portable more than word, and I use google spreadsheets more than I use excel. Unfortunately, I'm force into using access (which I hate with a passion) for work. But thank God I don't have to use powerpoint for squat.
Microsoft only has the corporate clients to thank for the success of office, and even there, the guys 'used to the old way of doing things' are gonna thin out and the ones who take over will ask: "$600 a pop for writing letters and adding words in columns? Are you insane? How about free?" and there you have it.
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11-24-2006 @ 7:45PM
Danny said...
>release the closest thing to an iPod clone this side of Taiwan.
Since Apple was sued - and lost - for ripping off creative's patented UI for the iPod I'm I doubt that MS really had to get their "nerve" up to do this.
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