Back when me and my brother ran Dana 35s on stock internals, I broke a set of spider gears trying to bump a rock ledge. My brother twisted splines daily driving his lincoln locked stock Dana 35.
While I don't buy in on the Dana 35 stuff, however, I do see that in some regions the Dana 35, when modded with $1500 worth of upgrades (Super 35) is an appropriate axle to run.
But IMO axle swapping and getting away from the Dana 35 is like choosing the 4.0L engine option in the Wrangler over the 2.5L. Sure, the 2.5L has enough power and torque for the Wrangler, but the 4.0L is an upgrade and is more than enough. Will you use all the potential of the 4.0L? Maybe not, but its nice to have, even if you dont need it.
Does that make sense?
The 8.8 vs the Dana 44; each has its pros and cons. It's up to the owner to chose which one he/she wants for his/her application. I have found that usually the 8.8 can be found much cheaper more easily.