Yes I do need it
Not only that, but I demand it.
I have a personal dislike for a cluttered desktop. What I have there is a few important shortcuts and the occasional temporary item that I have dropped there in a hurry and will remove when I complete it. I also dislike a stacked task bar - or to be more correct - stacked anything. A pet peeve is the way printers are stacked - If I set up a printer as a color printer and a b&w printer I want to see them as separate items and not stacked.
Being able to have only a few crucial items in the taskbar and having an uncluttered work area allows me to work the way I want to work and not how some other schmuck wants me to.
