Pfffft.
ATI introduces far more things than Nvidia

HDR + AA, x16 Angle independent AA, direct X 9 card that was actually fast

.
Geforce 6 shader model 3 wasn't needed, and only like two games used it at the time, and the Geforce 8 has useless features (at the moment).
ATI drivers are also fine. Just install the latest drivers then grab ATI tray tools.
Are we really going to go into this? Alright DizZa, grab your nomex, cus here come the flames.
ATi and nVidia are, and have been for a very long time the number one GPU makers in the industry. Ususally claiming the #1 high end slot for mabe a month or so at a time.
But thats really where the similarities end. ATi and nVidia seem to be much like AMD and Intel. nVidia and Intel are the massive producers with cash to burn. So they can throw money at Duel core and Duel graphics solutions and make them work. However ATi comes along, takes the blueprint, and makes it their own. Sometimes its works (7950 vs X1950), but many times it fails (Gen 1 crossfire vs Gen 1 SLi). However the company's seem to have their own market to which they play very well. ATi has the HTPC and low end gaming wrapped up, while nVidia plays right to the power user. My train of thought is alwaies better media = ATi, better gaming = nVidia.
The drivers are a whole different battel ground. nVidia seems to be winning this one here. As someone who has used both company's cards and drivers, I can tell you nVidia wins. Though setting and tweaking your card via the drivers is about the same between ATi and nVidia, I find that in installing and uninstalling nVidia wins hands down. A quick uninstall, defrag, reinstall, then registry clean and your up and running again. ATi on the other hand needs Cat uninstaller + a freeware app to get rid of everthing, then defrag, and reg clean. Then when you actually get everything running again, you still run into that whole OpenGL problem. Also as someone who is running vista as a main OS, I can tell you Vista likes nVidia much better than it did ATi.
Finally we get to the whole G80 debate. Is it needed today? No, however in 4 months? Yes. Both card makers need to launch a DX10 card, thats just a fact, and it happens that nVidia got theirs out first. ATi should have R600 out by January. Its just how the hardware world goes round. I remember first hearing about Pentium D and AMD x2 and thinking to myself "Why would anyone ever need a duel core?" No I say to myself "only three more months till conroe!" We may think the tech is early, but in the next half year I see about 50% of the hardware regulars having a G80 or R600 inside their towers. I can tell you I will have two.
Cheers
Cameron