From United's end...

http://mileageplusupdates.com/copaupdate/

Of course, Copa has to do what they have to do, but it's a shame that they couldn't have waited and all come together and settled down at once, both here and at United. In the meantime, the KISS principle - fundamental to any such program - is seriously abused. It may be quite a challenge for ConnectMiles to come from behind (thank you again, United, for the confusion) right out of the gate.

Also, just to clarify one of the OP's points, signing up now to subscribe just gets one in line to enroll in the program down the line, and then to earn the 1,000 for that.

Now, will there come a time when all settles out for it to make sense for some people to earn all their miles into ConnectMiles when flying United?

ETA: Anyone else get "This email is already registered" when signing up to subscribe?