Ribbon is absolutely an improvement for users but is more work for the XML layout and learning how to organize it.
I'm rather convinced that Ribbon is still the best way to organize quick actions, show their shortcuts (Alt to see keyboard shortcuts), and also have enough text to describe all the buttons. But it'd be nice if it were easier to make good Ribbons.
Menu was braindead easy, albeit through ancient process of .rc files and whatnot
Old Photoshop, any CAD software, Excel. Smaller buttons and more of them is a steeper learning curve but results in far superior day-to-day usability. You can still hold down [Alt] and see hotkeys, that wasn't unique to the Ribbon UI.
it's all very much an example of the "Look at what they need to mimic a fraction of our power" meme.
It's well acknowledged that modern designers and users benefit from large vs small, and other varying styles of organization.
Menus only had top menus vs submenu vs sub-sub-menu (and so forth). Yes a good menu is useful but...
A ribbon offers many more tradeoffs. It's harder to design a good ribbon, but the best ribbons are always better than even the best menu. The important features will be physically larger with more text and space. The less important or niche features might just be an icon with tooltip, possibly hidden behind a subcategory of the ribbon.
In theory, you can use the modern Ribbon to make old school menus. But why bother? If you made the switch to that XML design language, you might as well take all the benefits of the Ribbon
Or hell, if you like old school menus, you can still make them today. Those .RC editors still work in modern Windows 11. But give it a shot and you'll see how restrictive and bulky old school menus are in practice.