I'll add my .02 to the list of disappointed Ram 4x4 owners as well. Like most people, the biggest thing that aggravates me is the misleading way it's labelled.
Being honest with myself, I'm on rutted single track once or twice a month tops, when I go out to my spot in the woods to shoot or hunt. I live in the city, work in the city, etc. While I would have preferred the reassurance of true 4wd, the auto is what I need 97% of the time. It's looking like a pretty slick winter so far in Ohio, and I've had no trouble in the past with the 4 auto. I do have to live with a health fear of the mud though.
The only time the 4wd has let me down was in my own yard, when the truck slid back down my hill in wet grass. Wouldn't have been a problem at all except it slid back into the trailer. Pissed me off pretty good, but even if 4 wheels had been turning the whole time, it still probably would have slid. Tires are still the thing that connects the truck to the surface, and for most people like me, that's probably still the critical failure point. Unless you're out bogging regularly, or rock crawling, the 44-44 is probably satisfactory. I still would have liked to have understood it when I bought it, and it peeves me that I can't have both AWD functionality and true 4wd, but I've come to accept it.