Ubuntu will never get traction on desktop until video drivers at least show image on monitors. I've spent 3 days trying to install correct drivers for my graphic card, until I've finally gave up.
However, if you can't even get an image to show with Ubuntu then you're doing something very wrong. Not taking advantage of all the features of the card without installing proprietary drivers (offered, but not forced on you, with a single click in Ubuntu), yes that's common. Not being able to view anything with a recent Ubuntu on a desktop machine is a very unusual situation.