I don't mean to "pile on" but I'm with the group consensus on this one. However, I think it does depend to some degree on the type of trip you're on, in terms of expected weather, length of trip, snow/no-snow, creek crossings, etc. I personally use shoes for all that stuff, in rare cases augmented with goretex socks, but for a weekend trip that's anticipated to be rainy and the mileage is low, many people might be happier in goretex shoes or boots.

OM said: "The one caveat I found is that it's a good idea to wear low gaiters with the trail runners, especially when mosquitoes are around!"

Here too it's a lot about individual preference. I almost always wear long pants, long enough that they cover my shoe tops. For me, gaiters are one more thing to fiddle with, they keep me warmer when I want to be cool, they make it less likely that i'll take my shoes off at a break, so I only wear gaiters in certain kinds of snow conditions or sometimes in rain/wet brush --- to keep my my goretex socks from wetting out early from the top down.

Sorry, I think I'm participating in thread drift here; I have no recommendations w.r.t. any particular type of boot.