I too have been mystified by the ribbon and have lost significant productivity. With effort I am starting to understand part of the rationale, though I still prefer the drop-down menu approach (by a lot). There is one toggle that must be there somewhere and should be obvious, but I can’t find it.

I want to hide the group labels displayed on the ribbon, to make a cleaner, simpler, less distracting interface. I can see where the labels might be useful to explain the reason why commands are grouped as they are, but that usefulness lasts about ten minutes at most. For example, on the Insert tab, I don’t need the group labels to teach me about the commands above. Often the group label simply repeats the command labels above. OK, I got it. Now please get out of the way.

I know how to remove the group labels: Make a set of custom tabs; make a series of custom groups for each; import EACH command individually; remove the labels on all custom groups; hide all default tabs – oh, and by the way, don’t forget to export and save as you go, because if you forget and close the customize dialog before exporting, you start all over. Hundreds of commands, 3 or four clicks each, and you’re talking serious time.

Why isn’t there a simple way just to hide the group labels (not labels in the customize dialog, but on the ribbon itself)? I can’t imagine that a simple show/hide toggle for group labels can’t be put on the ribbon or access toolbar somewhere. Am I missing something?