Are there really any power users that use Explorer for file management? The only reason I ever use it is via Win-E to see how many and how full the disks are on the machine. Otherwise, I'm copying with Robocopy, managing files with PowerShell, and even my photos all live in Lightroom where I would be in trouble if I used Explorer to rename, delete, or move them, so all the photo file management happens inside that tool.

The ribbon is a useful feature for novices and it's easy to collapse and hide it if you don't want it.