The problem I always had with it is that the little symbols are inscrutable, and mouse-over for a description is inconsistent. Because of this I found the ribbon far less discoverable than text based menus.
ToolTips also work very consistently. Hover, and a box appears, in most cases containing a full description and keyboard shortcut(s), and sometimes even helpful graphics.
I think you just don't like it because it's different to what you were used to.