I did some research earlier this month on the Forester and Outback forums, one tire that was not mentioned here, that was highly regarded on the Subaru forums, was the W409 Hankook studdable snow tire. I bought a set of these (studded) for my wife's Forester FXT. I have not even placed them on the car yet, so I have no direct experience. But their reviews on the forums indicates they are a very good choice.
I also own a set of studded Cooper WinterMaster ST2s for my Outback, they get the job done. I have about 5k on them and they look new. However, this makes the second set of Coopers (this set of wintermaster ST2s and a set of Cooper "M&S" truck snow tires), and both were "lumpy" for lack of a better term...never did get the M&S balanced out, and the Wintermasters are going in next week for a rebalance, and possible repalcement if that doesn't cure it.
One thing with studs, they do increase your dry braking distance since the studs tend to slide along the pavement. Ice is s different story, a studless snow will not stop nearly as fast as a studded tire. You can even see this in Tire Rack's snow tire comparison.
If you get accustom to studs, you will never want anything else in winter...traction in ice and snow is second to none.