2007 Microsoft® Office System Inside Out

The Ribbon and Command Tabs

Simply put, Microsoft designed the Ribbon so that users could find commands more easily. The Ribbon displays a larger number of commands (fewer are hidden on toolbars that aren’t displayed by default or buried in submenus), and the command tabs included on the Ribbon are organized to represent the main functional groups of each program. In Word 2007, for example, the Insert tab features commands that relate to the range of objects you might insert into a document, from graphics and shapes to hyperlinks, headers, and WordArt. The Page Layout tab, next in order on the Ribbon in Word, provides commands for organizing and formatting the page.

The Ribbon also groups commands, which helps show their relationship, and provides ...