There seems to be a negative stigma associated with the use of tablature; some other musicians seem to think of it as an easy way out of learning music. For the guitar I believe it is essential. FYI: Tablature predates the 5 line staff version of musical notation; lute tab is dated back to the 13th century while 5 line staff is set at the 14th century. Not that one is better than the other and I think they both have their uses.
Be aware that there are drawbacks to using tab. Since you may be unaware of the notes or chords you are playing when you are using tab, you may be missing out on information that can be learned from that song.
I personally like using a combination of tab and standard notation. Check out Guitar Pro for examples of this.