Future of Dell Mobile Connect - Context for discontinuation, continued use of software?

Hello friends,

Although this is a community forum, I have occasionally seen staff responses. I'm hopeful that someone close to the issue can shed some light on Dell Mobile Connect (DMC)'s discontinuation. 

I'll also highlight that there's another thread discussing alternative solutions, although there haven't been any responses yet. There really are no good alternatives at the moment. I've looked far and wide, to no avail. I am particularly focusing on software interfacing between iPhones and Windows, mainly for sending and receiving messages (SMS/MMS/iMessage) on the desktop.

A business appeal: only Dell offers this feature set

In this thread, I'd rather ask, why axe such a killer feature? In a saturated PC marketplace, it doesn't seem to make much sense to give up a competitive edge. If metrics suggest otherwise, Dell might well consider whether marketing is the operative factor. Rejecting Apple's "walled garden" model and offering continuity from iPhones — the market favorite in the U.S. — to Windows PCs, is something that needn't apply only to power users. It's a huge selling point for Apple, and not a trivial reason why many average Joes/Janes buy Macs.

There's a reason why Apple, albeit tepidly, releases iTunes for Windows (Apple music subscriptions), but not iMessage or FaceTime clients (saving a competitive advantage). Steve Jobs even suggested an "open industry standard" for the latter back when the iPhone 4 was released; it's certainly not been for lack of time. While iOS APIs and protocols have made third party solutions uncommon and cumbersome to develop, DMC has demonstrated that it is not impossible.

While I could print this screed out and mail it to Mr. Dell himself, I'm not too confident that my lone forum thread will cause a seismic shift. ("Members of the board, I would like to draw your attention to the testimony provided by our pseudonymous, online, self-described expert, FizzyBubbles — this may warrant a second look!") It's also not entirely clear to what extent Screenovate Technologies, the listed developer on the Microsoft Store, changes that calculus. Evidently, they're a recent Intel acquisition. I'm not sure how all of those dots connect.

If I'm being optimistic, perhaps Microsoft is preparing to update its Phone Link (formerly Your Phone/My Phone) app in Windows 11 to get up to par to DMC's feature set. In that case, DMC would be no great loss. I'm not holding my breath, though, as Microsoft's recent announcements still only mention Android devices. Maybe they're keeping that card close to the chest.

If Dell is really dead set on leaving this behind, there are open-source repositories that might rejoice at the opportunity to make use of a greatly expanded codebase. Maybe that'd open the door to Ubuntu or RedHat binaries...

Current users: can we just choose not to uninstall?

I recently purchased a 2-in-1 Dell XPS 13. Even without this feature, it's still one heck of a laptop. For me, it replaces an HP Pavilion x360, which suffered a drop out of warranty and won't power on. Additionally, I have a MacBook Pro I picked up at a surplus sale for $85, which was fine while it lasted, but now has cooling problems.

While I'm not inclined to return the device, DMC is a significant part of why I finally bought the XPS, rather than try to tinker around with getting my old HP 2-in-1 back up and running. The Dell announcement shares that "Current [DMC] users can continue to enjoy the benefits of the software until the regional discontinue date," which is listed as January 31, 2023, for the U.S., although it's two months earlier for everyone else.

That leads me to ask, what happens after that date? Will I receive a "kill switch" update that renders the software inoperable? Has such an update already been issued?

Perhaps for volume customers or business users, avoiding use of unsupported software has its merits. However, I'm an individual end user. I understand the risks: if Apple changes some protocol unexpectedly, it might break functionality. I get that. Still, I would hope that I'm not compelled to discontinue the use of software on my own PC, for which the license was seemingly not time-limited.

Can anyone share whether DMC will stop working, or just stop receiving updates, after its EOL date?
Hopefully this thread proves useful for others.