Microsoft will allow Vista customers to use the "ribbon" user interface feature it introduced in Windows 7.

On the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), Microsoft indicated that it is planning support for the interface in Vista around the same time Windows 7 is released. The ribbon framework, part of Windows 7's graphical presentation layer, is an interface that uses a visual command bar at the top of the page to direct a user to menu items and toolbars that were previously hidden in drop-down menus.

The ribbon first appeared with the "Fluent" interface for Office 2007. A Vista user can download the interface once it's available as an update, to be called the Windows 7 Client Platform Update. The software will be a "recommended update" through the Microsoft Download Center on Windows Update and won't be automatic.

More information about the Windows Ribbon framework can be found on the MSDN site.