Vista was nearly a decade ago. It's ancient history. In recent years nVidia's driver support is excellent. AMD/ATI's driver team has mostly been laid off. They barely support their cards. You could even make a compelling argument that Intel HD graphics are better supported at this point.
Yes but the Nvidia Uberdriver narrative very dominant at the time (mostly because ATI drivers were much worse before AMD took them over). Nvidia didn't just have a few rough edges they blew a hole through the total Vista landscape. Haven't seen any other hardware maker mess the bed in such magnitude since.
NVIDIA drivers responsible for nearly 30% of Vista crashes in 2007
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/nvidia-drivers-responsible-for-nearly-30-of-vista-crashes-in-20/