The difference between a proper summer tire and a proper winter tire is enormous on a decent car.
It may be less noticeable on an econo-box since they have narrower tires.
When I first got my car, the order on my winter wheels was delayed, so I had to drive a bit on the stock tires (
Bridgestone RE070).
That was the equivalent of having the reaper in the passenger seat.
Trying to stop would take about as much time as it takes for an aircraft carrier to turn around.
When I got my winter tires (
Nokian WR), it was the difference between night and day. (Yes they're full blown winter tires, despite the "all weather" talk.)
I could brake properly without sliding for an eternity, I could chuck it sideways and not have it spin out, etc...
I now have
Yokohama AD07 summer tires, and I stop driving those when the temperature drops below 45f (7c).
That is what the recommendation is, besides they start to feel all brick like when it gets cold.
In an ideal situation (if you have to deal with a reasonable amount of winter weather), I would recommend having two sets of rims.
One wider set with proper summer tires on them, and one narrower set with narrow winter tires on them.
Unfortunately, I can't get narrow tires because of the with of my brake calipers, so my winter tires are much wider than I prefer.
Short of that you probably could go with all season tires year round, provided they are narrow enough, but in my opinion all season tires don't do anything quite good enough.
I wouldn't dream of putting all seasons on my car, that would just be a soulless existence.
However, driving with summer tires in the winter, even if they're narrow is just silly.
Possible yes, but it's just asking for trouble.