I have heard nothing but good things about the Marathon winter tyres and if you spending most of your time on dry roads you will want a tire that still rolls relatively quickly... the Marathon has studs that are slightly off centre which helps when you are dry roads.
There is no need for centre studs unless you are riding on ice all the time... running studs on hard pavement just wears them out and can make the bike a little sketchy in the handling department.
I run three bikes in the winter so will use whatever is best suited for the conditions... the hybrid has 700:35 cross tyres (no studs) which are good for everything but black ice and is my preferred ride when the roads are clear and dry and it handles hard pack exremely well. The narrower tyres cut through the slush like it's butter whereas a wider tyre will float more and make handling a little more challenging.
The fixed mtb used 26 by 2 semi slick tyres with an aggressive side lug which are great in snow, on hardpack, and anything but black ice... in extreme cold I like the reliability of the fixed drive and it offers excellent control.
The extracycle is my ice bike as it has 26 by 2 tyres with an aggressively studded front tyre and knobby tyres... the high volume tyres impart a really nice ride, the knobbies help when snow is deep, and the combination of a front studded tyre and a long wheelbase makes this the most stable winter bike I have ever used.
In most cases I have not fund a rear studded tyre to be as essential as a rear wheel skid is something you can deal with and if you can keep the front wheel tracking well the odds of this are much reduced.
On tyres... tread pattern and width are important but one thing people overlook is the actual tread compound. If a tyre can remain supple at lower temperatures it will ride better and get better traction. A slicker tyre will always have a greater contact area with the road than a knobby tyre and if that knobby tyre has a compound that gets rock hard at colder temps it will get lousy hook up on slicker surfaces.