One, can we give the "five years" thing a rest? It might have been said at the time, but there are too many interviews to link to that say "five years was a starting point, but ANY break would have worked". I just saw a video interview with Mike not a week ago where he reiterated that the length was totally and fully negotiable.
Two, bands don't have to be "best friends" to be good, creative or productive. Gene and Paul are not friends and don't hang out much. Aerosmith. Priest (Halford is on record saying they haven't spoken once to KK since his "retirement", and when he was out of the band - ten years or so - he didn't speak to the band once). Pearl Jam (watch the "Twenty" documentary). Pink Floyd (even Gilmour and Mason, the two surviving members, are not best friends). Fleetwood Mac. Jane's Addiction. The Rocking, Rolling Stones. It's nice to think every band is like Rush, where the band members sit down to nice evening long dinners and give gifts and drink wine (see the Rush documentary for that), but that's not reality. It is more like a sports team. You don't have to like the guy next to you, you just have to trust him to do his job when the clock is ticking.
Three, I think it is a horrible mischaracterization (and an abdication of responsibility on the part of the other band members) to say "MP was the problem". It takes two - in this case, five - to tango, and any relationship problem is at least some part the fault of both parties. I think the JLB thing was ongoing (watch the Systematic Chaos documentary) and I think the "James recording on his own in Canada" had at least something to do with that. But I don't think it was the cause. I think there was something - and we don't know what it is, because it's never been spoken about except in implication - that erupted between the two captains, JP and MP, and when that went down, it was just natural that JLB would pick his side. It didn't help matters, but that wasn't the root cause.
Four, my opinion only, but Mike was right. I don't think the last two albums are bad, per se, as I would listen to them over a lot of what is in my collection, but they are not "great DT records". There was an essence, a coherence, a vibe to the MP-era albums that are not there now. I think it akin to "A Momentary Lapse of Reason"; of COURSE that is a Floyd album, and certainly "The Division Bell" is a very good Floyd album. But it's not Wish You Were Here (but then again, what is?), nor does it have the vibe and feel of Wish You Were Here.