The Office ribbon was/is far superior to the original, flat UI for novice and intermediate users. By flat, I don't mean aesthetics but rather the layout. Every menu option and button had the same visual importance of every other button/option which makes it difficult for novice and intermediate users to find the right one. It was fine for power users because they will put in the effort to learn the interface no matter how crappy it actually is. And power users usually get upset when the interface changes because they now have to relearn it. But that doesn't mean it was a bad change in absolute terms, it is a lot better for non-power users which are the vast majority of users.