Windows 8 Explorer to have ribbon interface

We knew that using a ribbon for Explorer would likely be met with skepticism by a set of power-users (like me), but there are clear benefits in ways that the ribbon:

Exposes hidden features that they already use but which require third party add-ons to use in the Explorer UI today.

Provides keyboard shortcuts for every command in the ribbon, something many people have been asking for.

Provides UI customization with the quick access toolbar, taking us back to a customization level that is basically equivalent to Windows XP.

We also knew that, similar to when we added the ribbon into Office, there would be concerns about reduced screen real estate. We worked hard to mitigate this issue, and I’ll tell you what we did here a little later in this blog post..