<P> In computer interface design, a ribbon is a graphical control element in the form of a set of toolbars placed on several tabs . The typical structure of a ribbon includes large, tabbed toolbars, filled with graphical buttons and other graphical control elements, grouped by functionality . Such ribbons use tabs to expose different sets of controls, eliminating the need for numerous parallel toolbars . Contextual tabs are tabs that appear only when the user needs them . For instance, in a word processor, an image - related tab may appear when the user selects an image in a document, allowing the user to interact with that image . </P> <P> The usage of the term "ribbon" dates back to the 1980s and was originally used as a synonym for plain toolbar . However, in 2007, Microsoft used the term to refer to its own implementation of tabbed toolbars bearing heterogeneous controls for Microsoft Office 2007, which Microsoft calls "The Fluent UI". Although Microsoft popularized the term with a new meaning, similar tabbed layouts of controls had existed in previous software from other vendors, including 3D Studio MAX R3 and later, Adobe Dreamweaver, Borland Delphi, HotDog and Macromedia HomeSite . </P>

What is importance of ribbon in microsoft 2010