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when in fact they are merely visual distraction from the true power of the keyboard shortcut.

So, given the lack of documentation etc.etc. please explain how firstly you found out about Ctrl-Shift-F and other keyboard shortcuts and then committed them to muscle memory?

This fundamentally is the reason why the Win8 and more recent Windows UI's suck, it is almost as if MS read Donald Norman's book: 'The Design of Everyday Things' (first released as 'The Psychology of Everyday Things') and deliberately decided to reject well-founded design principles.

The Ribbon, was intended to replace keyboard shortcuts, with my children it has been easier for them to get started and produce stuff, by visually exploring the ribbon and clicking on the image of the effect they are desiring, my daughter is starting to get more fluent, but is hindered by the lack of an obvious proficient/expert user option ie. keyboard shortcut.

Interestingly, both iOS and Android also suffer from some of the same brain dead 'designer' thinking, where users have to learn (from other sources or trial and error) to swipe starting from particular parts of the screen in particular directions to achieve certain actions.