I know they can, which is one of the reasons desktop if broken today. Programs have access to change whatever they bloody want, while they should not.
So again, in my opinion, it is a Windows fault and an API faulty, but essentially we are agreeing on the same here, just with different views of whose fault it is.
Also, regarding touch screens. Imagine a 42 inch TV sitting roughly ½-1 meter away from you. Then imagine Windows being entirely touch screen. No mouse. No keyboard.
Oh goodie, now I must get close to the TV (which is not a touch screen, btw) in order to do something or type something.
Or, you know, I could just use the mouse and it done in much less time it takes me to get close and stretch out my hand.
Now add to that that today's touch screens just aren't responsive enough to capture quick keyboard typing, and they get full of smudges and it gets just tiresome to do that in front of a computer all the time.
Nah. I agree with others have said with touch screens; I'm sticking with mouse & keyboard. Windows 8 is such a disaster in so many ways IMO.