> Tiny buttons toolbars were the norm for decades (...) before Microsoft transitioned to the "Ribbon" style in 2007.
The Ribbon still feels to me like that "new thing" Microsoft did since some version of Office... and you're telling me it was 2007?!! Oh my...
A bit before that time I already moved to Open/LibreOffice, and never really used any Windows past 7, so I've missed a whole UI paradigm transition that now makes Windows feel like a complete stranger to me.