All I know, is that I haven't had to "install a driver" on Linux for at least 10 years or so (other than drivers I am developing). Yet the Microsoft users around me are continually struggling to get basic hardware (SATA controllers, USB3 adapters, USB devices, etc..) working with their machines. Example: android phone/tablets.. driverless for Linux, horridly complex on Windows.

But once in a while, yeah, somebody does have to "install a driver" on Linux. And like Microsoft systems, how easy or difficult that is, depends on the hardware vendor supplying the driver. Except on Linux, it doesn't normally include 100MB+ of bloatware along with the driver.