So, are you saying there is no way to deactivate the macro group with this setting? What about disabling it? -- Just tested this: it works.
Ah, the old "they made me do it!" LOL
For me, the Always activated and shows a palette option is HUGE!
It allows me to have my cake and eat it too. 
See my post about this.
For my workflows, I don't see a need to deactivate such a group. I can always use the Disable Action which works (just tested it).
In terms of availability, what is the difference between making a macro group inactive and disabled?