Which minimalist/forefoot running shoes?

I'd recommend Vibrams for minimalist footwear.  If thats too expensive, then go with some really cheap river shoes from Walmart.  You can pick up a pair for less than $10.

As for Newtons, be careful.  My understanding is that they over-emphasize the forefoot strike.  Your body will naturally figure out the most comfortable way for your foot to land with minimalist shoes on.

If that goes well, maybe I'll try the water shoes or barefooting.

Here's my take.  But first, a little background.  I'm in the process of going barefoot/minimalist.  I started a few weeks ago.  I got into tris about 5 years ago, but had foot problems most of the last 4.  I've done the gamut of highly supportive footwear, the motion control shoes.  I've had multiple sets of custom orthotics.  Numerous visits to podiatrists.  Cortisone shots.  Strassburg Socks.  You name it.  Nothing has seemed to work.

I'm a heel striker.  My foot rolls inward upon contact.  At least thats what I do with the motion control shoes.  With orthotics, I can usually keep that from happening.  But I've still had foot problems.

I decided to go the complete opposite route.  My running motion is totally different barefoot or in Vibrams than it is with my regular running shoes.  I land on the balls of my feet for one thing.  Its gosh darn hard to pronate if thats where you're landing.  It feels so natural running barefoot.  I havent looked at tape or whatnot, but I have a pretty good idea that I am running much more as we're supposed to do.  Much more efficiently.

I don't think gradually stepping down is the right move.   And actually might make things worse.  You may be getting benefit from all that motion control.  With a step down shoe, your stride may not change, but you'll lose the support. 

Going barefoot or minimalist is starting from scratch.  Like 5 to 10 minutes for awhile.  You stress different body parts running that way.  It takes them awhile to adapt.  I'm willing to do that given how limited I've been historically.

I've switched almost all of my running to Fivefingers.

I've also been experimenting with some low profile shoes for (a) very rocky or very long trail runs/ultras, and/or (b) northern Illinois winter running.  For that I've tried the light, low profile New Balance MR790, and I've tried a spikeless XC flat, the Brooks Mach 11 Spikeless.  Jury's still out on each of them since I still like the Fivefingers better.

Edit to add:  Besides running shoes, I've also made a major switchover in my everyday shoes as well.  I work in a business casual office environment, in my case being heavy on casual, light on business.  I've been exclusively wearing Feelmax Niesa shoes to work for the past several weeks.  These are even more minimal than VFFs..the sole is just 1 mm thick, but they have the appearance of regular shoes.  I think this has really helped in further strengthening my feet and ankles since I'm in these shoes ~12 hours a day, versus more typically ~1 hour per day running my my FFs.

I would suggest that you go for a cheap pair of water shoes from Wal-Mart. They are less than $10.00 and have zero support. Your feet and legs have to use all of their muscles.

Its not that I don't like the Vibrams, I don't like the price. They are a little bit lighter than water shoes but offer no other benefit.

I ran the 2007 Chicago Marathon in water shoes and did just fine.

If you want to take advantage of barefoot running and don't want to run on pavement. Find a park and run on the grass. Especially if you are nursing an injury. I use to run the perimenter of a park near my house. It got boring running in half mile circles but it felt great.

Okay I am in with this minimalist stuff theoretically at this point.  I have a Marathon in less than 2 months and I am thinking it would be a bad time to try changing,  but once that is over almost barefoot is where I am going.