In general terms I prefer carbon steel over stainless, except for something like a dedicated fishing knife. I'm a free sweater living in a humid part of the country and get pepper spots etc., but I'll trade that off for the edge I get with carbon. And I don't mine the look of a well earned "patina".
Carbon steels in general tend to have a finer grain structure than stainless, thus allowing most folks to get a finer edge. Some of the new powder steels address this grain issue, but I think they're still pretty expensive. The Japanese are doing a lot of work with these new super steels.
This is one of the reasons why woodworking tools like fine chisels, plane irons, shaper knives etc. are carbon steel and not stainless. My high speed steel knives for my shaper make much smoother cuts than the carbide tipped knives, because of the grain size and thus the fineness of the edge.
If you want to experience some of the newer steels without paying huge money, Spyderco offers a lot of them before the other big companies do, for reasonable money.
Certainly both stainless and carbon have their place, and the card that trumps everything is a proper heat treat.
Here's an article that is pretty good, and lists a lot of the different steels and discusses their qualities. Note that he points out that unlike stainless carbon steel can be differentially heat treated:
The Knife Steel FAQ by Joe Talmadge Custom Knives at Knife Art
