Pfft. Anyone who can't figure out the ribbons shouldn't be let near a computer anyway.
I encountered it for the first time at my new job, and I really like it. Much better than strips of tiny icons.
P_G, when isn't a new software package "a glorified version" of its predecessor? Inspiron makes my point when he tells us of the huge retraining required to change working environments. I expect that if you looked at the source code (!), you wouldn't call it "glorified". According to the primer I posted, it's quite an evolution. Who knows. If they've cleaned up some of the major Vista gripes, it should be pretty good.