[Tiling] - can I run my backerboard just to the top of the tub flange?

I'm getting ready to tile my shower surround. It's a standard surround wall, 60x30. I'm accustomed to Hardibacker as that is what I have used in the last bathroom I tiled (about 10 years back). I came across something I wanted to share and ask what your thoughts were. This person says they like to hide Hardi --> Drywall transitions under tile, and they say they do it like this: [QUOTE]I strongly suggest that you hide backer to drywall transitions under tile. When I do a normal tub surround I buy 4 pieces of backer. One goes up vertical on each side (5 feet), one horizontal on the back, and another cut at 2 feet horizontal so that we have 5 feet above tub deck all the way around. Drywall above that . I even do the drywall if tiling to the ceiling. Then the tile is going to at least 5 1/2 feet above the deck and 3 1/2 feet from the wall. No transitions for me.[/QUOTE] That actually sounds pretty good to me but I'm going to be tiling all the way to my ceiling (8') and I'm apprehensive about attaching thinset and tiles to the drywall.

I plan to rip up the ceramic tile in my kitchen and originally I was just going to remove some of the tile and cut the entire subfloor out, install 1/2 inch plywood for a new sub floor and then 1/4 hardiback and install the tile. This may not be as easy as I thought. I'm reading a lot and some people complain that the sub floor they remove was glued [i]and [/i]nailed down? The house was built in 1987, it has 12 inch x 1/2 inch pine running perpendicular over the joists and in rooms with tile or rugs it has 3/4 inch plywood for a sub floor sitting on top of the pine boards, the rooms with hardwood has no sub floor the hardwood is nailed directly to the pine boards. I'm tying to figure out what I'm getting into. Is the sub floor in the kitchen most likely nailed and glued down? Seems it will make the job much harder than if it was nailed down alone. Unfortunately because of the doors in the kitchen, I'm not able to just remove the tile and put hardi back on top of the existing sub floor. The height would interfere with the doors opening and closing.