Whats the best Ribbon UI control to retro fit to a legacy MFC application build with VC2005?

Question

What experience have you had with introducing a Ribbon style control to legacy MFC applications?

I know it exists in the new VC2008 Feature Pack, but changing compilers from VC2005 is a big deal for our source base and integration to our environment, Intel FORTRAN, ClearCase, many 3rd libraries.

There are quiet a few different commerical implementations, most focusing on C#/VB .NET, and only a few for native C++ MFC.

I have read all the usual reviews found by Google most are quiet old now, so I am interested to here from people who have actually done it, been through the pain barrier, released a legacy application with VC2005 and a Ribbon UI.

We currently use a very old version of Stingray Objective Toolkit to provide our MFC extensions like customizable toolbars and docking windows etc.

Answer 1

We use Codejock. It's not cheap, but I guess I've come to find that good controls usually are :-). They are fairly responsive in the tech support department (although we haven't had need to use that recently). We are buidling a whole suite of tools using these controls and have always had what we've needed, including the ability build the office 2007 style ribbon.

Answer 2

In my projects I'm using the MFC Feature Pack in Visual Studio 2008, which is based on code from BCGSoft. Their BCGControlBar Library Professional Edition includes a ribbon control and is compatible with Visual Studio 2005.

I'm not aware of any open source ribbon control libraries for C++, though.

Answer 3

Any one used Prof-UIS, compared to the other commercial ones its relatively cheap, unlimited developer licensing is a 10th the cost of the others.

Are there any free, open source or L-GPL'd ones available?

Answer 4

Please be aware that you need a license from Microsoft to use the ribbon control in your application. They give it for free as long as you don't write a software to compete with Word or other Office software.

Take a look at this link: Office UI Licensing.

People are generally not happy with Microsoft for this: The evil of the Office UI ribbon license.

Answer 5

We implemented a ribbon in our app due to pressure to have the latest/flashiest looking UI. It looks good, but the usability isn't good compared to using a plain toolbar!

To adhere to Microsoft's License to use the ribbon, you have to stick to their guidlines on how it should be used. Eg.. only the user can change ribbon tabs, you can't do it programatically except when switching to a context tab. All these limitations mean that the ribbon only applies to applications that are definitely document-centric. If you're app isn't document-centric, don't think you can just drop a ribbon in to replace a menu/toolbar driven system without giving it a lot of thought about how everything is going to fit together.