Minimizing the Office 2007 Ribbon to the Maximum

With the unveiling of yet another beta release for Office 2007 by the end of the summer, Microsoft representatives have announced radical modifications to the user interface. The UI alterations were catalyzed by user response during beta testing and will materialize in a minimizing option to be included in the next Technical Refresh update. In this context, the Ribbon will present a collapse feature in order to address screen space vs. functionality issues.

“Since the very first public build of the new user interface, you've been able to collapse the Ribbon to just the names of the tabs by using CTRL+F1 or by double-clicking the selected tab. The design goal here was that when you wanted a maximum amount of screen real-estate in which to work with your document, you could get all of the UI out of your way at once. In fact, one of the main advantages to consolidating all of the UI into one place is that you can turn it off or on all at once,” wrote
Jensen Harris, Microsoft program manager in his blog.

The collapse mode allows for the document to feel every nook and cranny of the screen keeping a single customizable Quick Access Toolbar, which the user can personalize according to his own preferences of necessities.

The Ribbon modifications made the collapsed menu more visible and added a context menu available through right-clicking anywhere in the menu's space. Alterations have also aimed at improving functionality making accessing a feature through the Home tab much less time consuming as the Ribbon no longer expands but is brought up like a floating window and returns to its minimized status once the desired option is selected.