If you ran on concrete while barefoot and continued heelstriking and overstriding, it would immediately hurt, signaling that something is wrong. Try running mid-foot or forefoot and you won't have that issue. This is because when you heel strike, your body utilizes your natural shock absorbers (eg. your arch, knees, certain muscles, etc.) less and the stress of landing is distributed more through your bones and joints. This can lead to shin splints, heel spurs, and other injuries. I personally am a midfoot striker and rarely have injuries. If you tend to overstride, it is important for you to realize that your power from your run comes from the pushing motion where your leg extends from beneath you to behind you. If you land with your foot in front of you, you have to wait for your momentum to carry you forward or pull in a scraping motion just to get to that powerful part of your stride. It does nothing for you except increase the stress on your body. Longer, more efficient strides come from a stronger push off, not by reaching forward past your center of gravity to artificially lengthen your stride. For this reason, I recommend low to zero drop shoes with flexible soles and gradually including minimalist/barefoot shoes into some of your runs. You will strengthen your body, and as long as you avoid overtraining, avoid injuries.
Barefoot shoes are not for beginners who have been wearing regular shoes for their entire life and rarely go barefoot. Jumping into barefoot shoes to quickly will likely cause you to injure yourself. That said, with proper, gradual integration, they can strengthen your feet and lessen problems like lower back pain and plantar fasciitis in many people. They are also a good tool to identify problems in your running form such as heel striking. If it hurts when you're barefoot, you still shouldn't do it with shoes on. The cushioning will lessen the damage but not eliminate it. I will go more into detail in a future post. The sock-doc blog has some great information on this (check my favorite websites post!)
Minimalist shoes are also not something to jump into right away, but present less hazard than barefoot shoes. With gradual integration into your running program, minimalist shoes also will strengthen your feet and legs, which may help relieve pain caused by weakened muscles from too much constant support. Imagine you've had an injury and it has been immobilized for a few months to allow you to heal. In order to regain strength in the affected area, you may have to undergo physical therapy, a long, gradual process that will eventually get you back to full function. Likewise, your feet have been over-supported for years, and there are atrophied muscles and tendons that will take time to strengthen. You may have to begin using these shoes to walk before gradually incrementing the distance you run in them. Be cautious, you don't want to set yourself back with an injury.
Neutral shoes are a bit more substantial, and offer cushioning without any major stability features to try to "correct" (or control) any movement issues. Because of this, it won't actively change your gait like motion control shoes can, which can injure you. I use neutral shoes about as much as I use minimalist shoes, often for long runs, because I think they're a little more comfortable when you're going that far.
Note that if you have two or more pairs of shoes and rotate them, each shoe will last more miles without degrading than it would with every day use. This is because the EVA foam recovers to its natural state after the repeated compression running induces on the shoe.
Stability shoes are designed to correct issues like overpronation and supination. I don't generally use them, or recommend people use nothing but stability shoes. As far as I am aware, slow and gradual adaptation to training is generally enough to allow your body to adapt to running, and the extra padding and "corrective features" in a stability shoe encourage poor running form and largely rob you of the chance to strengthen your body to prevent pain and injuries.
Don't bother with motion control shoes, really. If you are considering them because your feet are really that bad, you're better off biking/swimming and walking for fitness. Maybe trying to incorporate some barefoot exercises and working in barefoot running will help your issues, consult the sock-doc site or a sports-medicine doctor for more advice.
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