In late 1999 my dailer driver changed from an early 70's B body with a 318 (which I had been driving for the previous 6 years) to a 2000 300M.
In the 5.5 winters that I've been driving the 300, there have been 3 or 4 winters where several times the snowfall was such that I'm pretty sure I would have been stuck in a RWD car equipped with the best snow tires. (chains are unheard of here, and studs were made illegal more than 20 years ago).
For the past 3.5 winters I've put snow tires on the 300 (on 16" plain steel wheels). I think the snow tires, combined with FWD, make the difference between being able to drive out of my driveway and get to the nearest plowed feeder or arterial road after a foot of snow falls the previous night. This exact situation has happened several times this winter, and I'm making my own tracks (not driving in a set of tracks created by a few 4x4's already).
I'm torn when it comes to whether or not I'd want my next daily driver to be a V-8 RWD. I don't want the extra cost, dead weight, and complexity of AWD when I know I'd only use for the very very very few miles in the winter. As most of my miles are urban (stop-light to stop-light) a RWD V-8 really wouldn't get the sort of work-out it's capable of. The 3.5l 250 hp V-6 in the 300 generally gets me up to speed fast enough given congested urban driving.
If I weren't faced with the practically 100% certainty of several heavy snow dumps each year (and most of my driving continued to be on pretty flat terrain), then going to RWD for my next car would be a much easier decision to make (I really would rather drive RWD).
So when the snow falls and the plows haven't gotten to your neighborhood yet, my experience is that FWD (with ordinary "all-season" tires) is either equal to, or marginally better than, RWD with good snows.
However, FWD with good snows (Alpin or Blizzak, even 2 to 3 years old) will get you through deep snow in a totally amazing way that will leave RWD's hopelessly stuck.