I had been wondering for quite some time what the actual size difference was between the Office 2007 Ribbon and the Office 2003 toolbars. There is no better way to do the comparison than to put the two side-by-side.
As you can see in the screenshot above the Ribbon is obviously larger even when you have 3 rows of toolbars open in Office 2003. I measured the difference to be about 20 pixels but in Office 2003 I typically only have 1 row of toolbars…which measures in at a 72 pixel difference.
However, with the latest release of Office 2007 Beta 2 TR I have setup the Ribbon to auto-minimize itself. That means I actually save 20 pixels by using the Ribbon! The minimize feature is great because most of the commands that I need are now located on the right-click menu anyway.
Sometimes I miss having the toolbars flowing all around my window but the Ribbon also has a place in my heart now. 
I personally love the new ribbon and would never conisder going back.
I think it is awesome as well. The UI differences are big, but better. Will take a little time for me to find where everything is now.
I think the size issue is relevant only for computers with small resolution. In my case, I have plenty of space, even with a double-size ribbon. Sooner or later, 99% of computer will have higher resolution that 1024×768, so ribbon will be no problem at all.
Now that people are beginning to purchase Netbooks, screen size is once again becoming a issue. Maybe soon they will develop a laptop that’s small and light but has a big screen?
The massive menu bar (aka “ribbon bar”) is for Ads and things like a “live” search box.
Efficiently speaking, only when the screen is larger than 1024×768 does a massive menu bar make sense – but NOT at the top of the screen. On 19″ LCD and larger there is always more room on the left or right side – that is where a massive menu bar should be located – closer to where you are working on the screen. But the massive menu bar is not moveable!
So why does M$ not allow the massive bar to be moved? Be cause M$ wants the eyeball space at the top of the screen for ads, plain and simple.
Hi all
Is there any way in which the Tabs/buttons on the 2007 Ribbon can be changed to bigger/bolder size?
Like in Office 2003 the toolbar could be enlarged through Windows XP.
Is it possible to do the same to the Ribbons through Vista, or is there another way?
Thanks
By the way, the spam box on this comment form doesn’t seem very useful because besides being easy to read for any computer, its text and written in the source code. Whats the point of it?
For one it’s simple for users, and two no spam bots have tried to take advantage of it. Until that day comes I’ll stick with this solution.