Is there a Ribbon UI Control available in VS 2008? Will it be available if i have office 2007 installed on the development and deployment machines?
EDIT: I would imagine that Microsoft would include the Ribbon UI control in VS 2008 as this is the way the UI of office is going to be moving forward also for the sake of consistency in Windows applications
I find that the Telerik RadRibbon control is quite good, although a bit inflexible. It also is (and this is the main reason I am suggesting it) a VS2008 Express registration benefit (see MS Connect), but otherwise the Telerik website.
Yes - it was included as part of the Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 - at least for C++/MFC support anyhow.
See this similar question for more info.
Beware, if you want to use ribbon controls, you need to get special permission by microsoft to do so. Most of the times it will be a formality unless your name is open office.
The information is presented at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-nl/office/aa973809(en-us).aspx.
With regards to licencing, you'll want to check out the Microsoft Office UI licencing information, and acquire a royalty-free licence. There are specific stipulations you must adhere to, as well as recommended/best practices portions of the licence.
Jensen Harris notes that if you are writing an application which directly competes with a Microsoft productivity application that uses the ribbon (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, etc.), you will not be able to obtain a royalty-free licence.
If you use Windows 7 / Vista, Microsoft provides Windows Ribbon Framework - a free ribbon control that comes with the operating system (In vista, check the platform update).
The main reason why to use the Windows Ribbon Framework: It's developed by Microsoft.
This means:
Since it’s the original one, it contains ALL the features, as opposed to other free/commercial ribbon controls which always have those "not implemented" sections.
It has COMPLETE support and integration with windows 7 UI & accessibility features. Just think about touch screen support or high DPI screens compatibility.
Also, there is a managed wrapper library named Windows Ribbon for WinForms which allows you to use the ribbon in .NET WinForms applications.
I'd say that DevComponent's DotNetBar is the best Office 2007/2010 ribbon around. The only problem is you have to buy it ($264 for single license, $299 for single license plus source code, and $2995 for single site license). Try the demo, it gives you a 28 day test drive (everything from the purchased software will for for only 28 days). Their current version is 8.8.
Our company uses the VIBlend Ribbon Bar control. You can download and try their demo.
http://www.viblend.com/products/net/windows-forms/controls/ribbonbar.aspx