The ribbon was specifically designed for programs that have so many functions and features that the traditional menu+toolbar would be nigh-unusable (as evident

The ribbon was specifically designed for programs that have so many functions and features that the traditional menu+toolbar would be nigh-unusable (as evident in older Office versions where users often didn't even know that certain features existed). So I guess indeed, Notepad with probably ten different functions that could be exposed, can live just fine with a menu bar.