You also couldn't modify it. I had previously customized Word to suit my needs. When the ribbon version came out I had a new laptop with that version of Word an

You also couldn't modify it. I had previously customized Word to suit my needs. When the ribbon version came out I had a new laptop with that version of Word and was just starting grad school. I lasted a semester before it drove me mad just trying to write papers and I switched to OpenOffice (and I now use LibreOffice). I had some compatibility issues back then when sharing documents but I could write without getting angry. I'm thankful for the ribbon though, since it prompted that change and got me started using open source software.