SubscribeRibbonCustomizer Starter Edition Overview
Yesterday, I introduced the Professional Edition of RibbonCustomizer. Today, I am giving an overview of the free Starter Edition. I believe Microsoft should have included some user customizability into the Ribbon User Interface. I am offering a free version, because I want every user to have some ability to change the Ribbon. If you want more than the free version offers, then buy RibbonCustomizer Professional.
This overview is for the feature-complete Starter Edition. That means, I will not add any additional ribbon customization features to it. I will however provide bug fixes, multi-language and accessibilty support for the free edition at the same time as for the Professional version. If you have specific questions related to RibbonX, I will gladly answer them in my RibbonX forum or in a Microsoft newsgroup. Please understand though that I will not provide the source code for RibbonCustomizer. In addition, any requests to add features from the Professional to the Starter Edition will be answered with a link to the site where you can purchase the Professional one.
Starter Edition Overview
If you have no idea what RibbonCustomizer is and what it does, please read the detailed overview of RibbonCustomizer Professional.
The Starter Edition will allow you to
- Use up to three pre-defined customizations in the form of .RIBX packages
- Quickly switch multiple customizations on and off
- Provide an easy way to add any groups you want to your Ribbon
- Reset tabs to the Microsoft default
Starter Edition vs. Professional
The following table gives you a comparison of the Starter and Professional editions.
| Starter Edition | Professional | |
| Customize Ribbon dialog |
Yes |
Yes |
| Add groups to tabs |
Yes |
Yes |
| Reset the ribbon |
Yes |
Yes |
| Reset a tab |
Yes |
Yes |
| Load pre-defined RIBX packages |
3 |
Unlimited |
| Quickly switch multiple customizations on and off |
Yes |
Yes |
| Show/Hide all customizations |
No |
Yes |
| Remove groups from tabs |
No |
Yes |
| Reorder groups |
No |
Yes |
| Add Microsoft tabs |
No |
Yes |
| Add new tabs |
No |
Yes |
| Remove tabs |
No |
Yes |
| Reorder tabs |
No |
Yes |
| Load RibbonX files |
No |
Yes |
| See RibbonX for a customization |
No |
Yes |
Evaluate RibbonCustomizer Professional
The Starter Edition will allow you to evalute RibbonCustomizer Professional for 14 days once on a given computer. After the 14 days are over, you either need to purchase RibbonCustomizer Professional to keep using all features of the Professional version, or it will automatically revert to the limited feature set of the Starter Edition.
Availability
The Starter Edition will be available for download next week. If you have decided that the Professional edition is what you need, you can purchase it now.