Jensen Harris of the Office team describes Microsoft's licensing terms for Office 2007's new UI.
In a nutshell, Microsoft is making available a free, royalty free license for companies to build their own Ribbons (and other Office elements) or use one from a third party. There will be one restriction: You can't use the components in products that compete against Microsoft's word processors, spreadsheets, and the like. (I wonder, does this include such things as a blog editor? Or a shared, synchronous editor that posts to the web in real-time? More things to worry about.)
You know, I wish Microsoft was announcing a public Ribbon tool instead of announcing that third parties can build one. That's what should really be going on now, with the pending launch of Vista. That would help the developer community the most.
(By the way, if Microsoft releases it's own Ribbon component will it also include restrictions, such as the licensing program announced here, that precludes developers from using them in a competing product? Hmmm. Friendly nudge to Microsoft: Your best protection is going to be innovation, not exclusions.


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