That's exactly it. Revo can't do it, and neither can MS.
Take any software package where some files are used by multiple programs and where some registry entries are also shared (like Adobe CC). In that scenario you can monitor disk activity all you like... it's impossible for any cleanup utility to know when it's safe to remove a shared file or registry entry. That's ONLY ONE very simple scenario where every cleanup tool falls on its face. There are MANY MORE.
For a mass market product like Windows, if only 0.001% of daily installs/uninstalls work incorrectly, that's still hundreds of thousands of daily failures, which results in bloat, OS rot, and potential errors (which for businesses means lost money). That's completely unacceptable for an officially sanctioned "solution".
If it was possible to solve this problem in the way you suggest, and MS considered it "good enough", MS would have solved it a decade ago. It's been a well understood problem for much longer than that. It has not been solved precisely because there is no such solution that works in a reliable enough way.
If you disagree with this then you are simply wrong.
A more reliable solution for Win32 software, and the one MS actually provides, is the ability to create System Snapshots. That works reliably, but it requires far too much planning and discipline to use effectively, making it almost worthless for most consumers.
Providing an API to handle Win32 software install/uninstall is a good idea. Of course, for consumers, a new API is only as useful as the number of developers that use it. But guess what? That API already exists! That API is part of the Windows Store! You can even get Win32 software to use that API. The tool that helps developers do so is called the Desktop Bridge (project Centennial).
Anyway, you don't really want what you think you want (or at least you shouldn't). We already have a 100% reliable API based solution for this problem. More developers just have to start using it.
You have probably never used Revo or similar software, but if you do, you will see they do a good enough job. I haven't used Adobe CC, but I have used MATLAB, LABVIEW, Visual Studio, Eclipse, many different productivity suites and a lot of games. None of them caused me any issues when uninstalled with Revo. Let me repeat what I wrote in my previous post and agree with you that NO SOFTWARE WILL WORK WELL 100% in such complex matters, but at least Revo (I haven't used any others, but hear good things about others too) works well for most scenarios.
I do not disagree with you on any technical point you made. While you are right from the point of view of someone who knows a lot about how windows works, I think you fail to see the problem from a layman's point of view. This is where I disagree. Of course uninstallers don't work reliably for all the software, but they have been developed well enough that they work reliably on the most common programs.
That is usually good enough for the average user who don't usually pay attention while installing new software and definitely don't use Adobe CC. And since this thread was originally about suggested improvements for those users, I do think they will find such addition useful. They don't have enough knowledge or motivation to learn how windows actually works or manage carefully what is installed. They will usually just use the included applications, add one or two additional ones, unwittingly install adware while browsing and then complain about how slow windows is compared to the Macbook their friend uses. For them, such a tool will greatly improve their perception of windows, even if it is effective only most of the time. And as far as businesses and power users are concerned, who do use software complex enough to cause problems, they usually handle system management themselves anyways using second or third party tools.
Also I think you misunderstand that I recommend such tools. These are tools that can potentially cause irreparable damage to a system of improperly used and so should always be used by someone who knows what they are doing. I understand that risk when I use them. But if Microsoft can make a simpler version of such tool(which surely they can, but its probably a business decision not to do so) that takes a cautious approach to cleaning the system, even if it is less effective, that will definitely help the average Joe and increase his confidence in windows' performance.
But as you pointed out, Microsoft has already decided to not build such a tool and promote UWP, which is actually a good long term solution. It makes good business sense to do so, I just hope they manage to convince developers to jump on quickly.
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