I kind of mentioned some of the difficulty I have had with this, but after today I've decided I may as well mention this too. The simple fact that I have to rely on another program such as XBCD to CORRECTLY use my 360 controllers is bullshit. Microsoft created the 360 controllers and the common input drivers for Windows so I honestly thought they would make it work straight out of the box. The reality though is that it's three levels of fucked up.
The biggest issue is why the fuck the D-Pad mapped to the POV hat. This breaks the overwhelming majority of joysticks, including those who allow for the joystick to be mapped to the left and right analog triggers. The majority of games don't read controls from there and as a result it leaves games such as Touhou unplayable in newer operating systems unless major league modifications are made. Seriously Microsoft, there's no fucking excuse for these awful drivers.