Pretty much every distro offers an easy way to install nvidia drivers.

It's the peripherals that really need drivers. I remember having to install digimend drivers for my friend's graphics tablet for example. That said, it wasn't supported well on Windows either and performed better on my Linux setup than on Windows once I did find out about the digimend drivers.

Driver troubles for peripherals aren't uncommon in Windows either. Don't get me started on printers. Somehow, printers and scanners have always been plug and play for me on Linux, contrary to what I often hear.