Yes, the adapter is, literally, a piece of shit when it comes to build quality and reliability. I was using one for over two years without a single issue, until one day I removed it from the USB port while the computer was on. Guess what? Didn't work anymore. Reading up (which, interestingly enough, works better than smashing things into a wall) i found out that it's a very power hungry device, using all of the 500mah one usb port provides.
So, if your USB port is not a native one (in other words, it's not bolted to your motherboard, or it's not a direct cable from the USB pin on your motherboard to a connector), the adapter won't prolly work. Even worse, it can fry the USB connector. It won't work properly (or at all) with that 2 USD USB extensions/hub you bought at cheaponlinestore.com
If you motherboard has cheap connectors, it could blow them up.
Because of the juice it asks from the USB connector, it also has a Fuse that blows when you tamper with it (mostly, when you connect and/or disconnect it with the computer on).
After mine blew up, I just bought another and made a mental note (and attached an adhesive to the wire) to NEVER unplug it with the computer on.
The thing is, tho. If you work within some logic boundaries, the adapter does it's job. Nicely, may I add.
Only problem with the drivers is that you cannot assign keys to the buttons. In other words, you can't make games that don't detect the controller work with it - but most official drivers for gamepads on PC don't allow you to do it. You can just use joy2key or some other software solution for that.
However, it works with every wireless controller for Microsoft. From the wheel to Rockband/Guitar Hero instruments. It even adds another audio out and audio in devices (as long as you plug in the headset on the controller). If you fiddle with the games configuration, you can even make voice chat be received and sent through the headset, while the actual game sounds come out of your speakers, if you have them.