It was introduced 8 years ago. It is hardly new anymore.
While going to the ribbon 8 years ago was a struggle, I couldn't go back now. The context aware parts, realtime previews, and just organisation is too good.
Unfortunately LibreOffice now feels cluttered and overly busy by comparison. That's more because Libre/Open Office has stood still, largely based on Office 9x rather than trying anything new themselves.
I'm not saying they should copy everything Microsoft does. I am saying that they should evolve themselves and look at where the industry is headed. For example look at all of the UI concepts from the web and touch devices, they've introduced a number of new ideas none of which Libre/Open Office have adopted.
If I wanted to use LibreOffice on my Surface Pro, I couldn't, no touch UI at all. That's a little disappointing.
I can make due and get things done but when I have the choice, I go for a traditional UI. I prefer a regular Menu Bar.
I'm not saying that it sucks or that it shouldn't exist or that no one should use a ribbon. I'm just saying that I don't like ribbons and will continue to use standard interfaces.
Note: Some of this was an exaggeration to drive home the point of how bad the ribbon interface sucks.
http://www.mlponies.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05...
Icons without text labels work ONLY for frequently performed tasks with an obvious visual representation.
For everything else text and icons is probably optimal.
If you can use both of those -- and I'm certain you can -- then I don't see why something that simply combines tabs and toolbar icons is such problem.
Obviously 2003 to 2007 was a big deal due to the introduction of the ribbon, but we're taking something that happened eight years ago.
My issue with LO is that it doesn't work on complex spreadsheets and powerpoints. I had spreadsheets corrupted and I just had to turn away from LO and go back to Office. I was much happier in LO, but alas I cannot stay.