I am a proponent of studded tires and have convinced family and friends to use them. There are good reasons that 80% of those safety-conscious Swedes have them on their cars in the winter! Traction, noise, and wear are often the main issues related to studded tires. Here are my thoughts on those:
Studded tires will reduce traction a little on dry and wet pavement, but increase it on ice and hard snow. Obviously, rubber has a greater coefficient of friction on concrete or asphalt than steel, but the studs give you traction that is very forgiving. It's not much worse on dry or wet pavement, and it's far better in extremely slippery situations. On wet ice, where it's hopeless to rely on friction alone, steel spikes will always dig!
The studs can wear out quickly due to high speed driving, hard cornering, and excessive wheel spin. If driven more gently, the studs can last many winters. I can expect anywhere from 2 to 8 seasons out of a set of studded tires, depending on how I drive.
Some people think they're noisy, but usually it's because they think the noise from the aggressive tread is caused by the studs. I only notice the sound of the studs with the windows down. They tick, like rocks in your tread, but more consistently. The sound kind of grows on you; I like the sound, as do my friends with studded tires, and even my girlfriend does now. She absolutely hated driving in the winter before she got studded tires. Now she thoroughly enjoys being the one on the road with the most traction on icy days!
I've had good experiences with Cooper Weathermasters, Cooper Discovery M+S, BFG Winter Slaloms, and Hankook W404s. Walmart sells a studdable tire (Snowmark?) that has good traction, but is excessively noisy on the highway (in a 2003 Celica, anyway).
Here's a good article on studded tires:
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/cars/tires/tirestud.html
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/cars/tires/tiretests.html