I think that everyone would agree that there needs to be improved settings/preferences/ preset management, but the real question is, in my view at least; where do Steinberg start?
Personally, if it were me, since it seems we are discussing the entire settings framework of the application(s), I would start with the Export option itself, in the file menu, namely, there really should only be one option, that shows a page whereby various content can be selected.
For example, why is there a separate MIDI export section, when it is track based anyway, so shouldn’t the program know we are wanting to export MIDI, rather than audio data? This is not to mention the fact that you have to solo a MIDI track to be able to get it to be exported correctly or at all, which is likely how the programs have worked since their inception.
Since, at its’ heart the DAWs are actually MIDI sequencers, why then is the song name not saved with a project, which gets deleted on Preference removal? That’s not helpful.
As for the Preferences themselves, who would think that a decades old program, can’t even backup any settings prior to them being deleted or removed, i.e., there is no point in saving them as a Preset because if you regularly remove preferences to help maintain system compatibility with the underlying OS, then you have no option to save them.
In addition, Port Assignments, also cannot be saved after preference removal, another sad aspect of the application.
Regarding the Studio Setup, ASIO guard settings are never saved post preference deletion, making everything really very temporary but there is one setting that remains, even after a repair of the application, which is the metronome Click Options, so Steinberg can probably do something here, it just needs to be articulated by users and formulated into a plan of change.