What's the obsession with modal dialogs?

So I've just spent the better part of a day working on a piece that uses non-standard tuplets, like 5 half notes in a 3/1 measure. Ok, I've figured out how that dialog works. But why do I have to close & reopen it every time? If that thing could keep floating around it would have saved me tons of time.

And this is not the only dialog in MS that is needlessly modal. So: why? Why?!?!