One of the biggest disadvantages Linux has over Windows is the lack of driver support from hardware manufactures. Is the situation with FreeBSD comparable, or better, or worse?
FreeBSD isn't as commonly used as a desktop/workstation though. People do it (I have one over in a corner), but support for every mouse and dongle under the sun isn't quite as high priority. Stuff like ethernet drivers that matter for servers have really good support in my experience.
Really? Most common peripherals, like mice, keyboards, usb drives, etc, just plug and play (as they do in Windows). But I tried installing a (4 year old?) multi-function printer under Ubuntu 14.04 a few weeks ago and was never able to get the scanner to work, despite Brother providing Linux drivers. Some co-workers and I haven't had great experiences with webcams under Linux. Touchpad support is there, but whether gestures and multi-touch work is another matter. Overall, Linux drivers are a far cry from plug and play in my experience, and I really don't care if I have to run an installer once as long as it ends up working.
I've read that driver breakage is for many the #1 problem with Linux, even for enterprise/server setups. I'm starting to view RHEL in a new light after running Debian for a long time.
One example where moving from Windows Vista to Windows 7 will update Intel on board graphics card drivers, thus killing Minecraft. Fix is to upgrade graphics card; or to run old versions of Minecraft; or to install Linux and run latest version of Minecraft.
With Windows there's a very good chance you can continue using an old version for a long time. I'm still supporting my mother using XP through two sets of hardware (although that'll end soon). (In)Famously, many people skipped Vista and are now skipping Widows 8, and I gather not suffering all that much.
Really? Because all USB webcams should support UVC, and therefore should work under every modern OS (Windows, OSX, Linux, BSDs, etc) without any additional drivers.
In fact, you can't even get a Windows Compatibility logo on your packaging if you don't support it. So the webcams you were trying to use must either have been ancient, or appallingly bad hardware?
Not on laptops
You have to be aware that neither Linux nor FreeBSD were developed with desktop usage as a primary goal, so the drivers support focuses more on hardware related to professional usage.
However, you can still use FreeBSD on the desktop/laptop if you pay some attention to what you're buying, and there is great FreeBSD distro called PC-BSD[1] dedicated to desktop users as well!
Answering your question in one word: comparable.
If you're merely in the OpenBSD camp, you'll think that security is the "focus" of OpenBSD.