I'm an experienced Linux user, and I've certainly dealt with driver issues (sound and wifi were my biggest hurdles). However, I've heard more and more success

I'm an experienced Linux user, and I've certainly dealt with driver issues (sound and wifi were my biggest hurdles). However, I've heard more and more success stories recently, especially if you spend a bit more than the absolute minimum for your hardware. I or my co-workers have successfully installed on several laptops without any driver issues whatsoever, and some were really cheap pieces of crap (~$400). Driver support has come a long way over there last 5 years or so, and I've actually had more trouble getting drivers after a fresh reinstall of Windows than Linux.