I think it depends on what laptop.
Asus laptops have always worked flawlessly for me.
I am writing this on an Asus laptop with linux mint. Everything just works perfect out of the box.
I could buy three of these laptops instead of the same setup on a mac is the major selling point for me.
Is it much better than 10 or 20 years ago? Yes.
Is it still annoying enough and sometimes colossal waste of time? Yes. Just use a Macbook and be done with it.