It doesn't look like Cisco cares about supporting Linux on that specific device: http://homecommunity.cisco.com/t5/Wireless-Adapters/AE1200-linux-Driver/m-p/410963?comm_cc=HSus&comm_lang=en#M30247

One user on that forum suggests the RALinkTech driver "RT3572USB" will function for your device, but suggests it will be an annoyance. I cannot confirm either statement.

ndiswrapper (a tool that provides enough Windows APIs to let Windows drivers  run under Linux) doesn't mention your device on their supported devices list.

In general, it is best to buy devices after  finding out their level of support. Some companies (Intel) put extra effort into making sure their hardware works under Linux (sometimes before Windows drivers are released; the members of their development teams I've talked with have been excited to support Linux). Some companies just don't care. Finding out for sure which specific devices are supported can be difficult; one simple approach is to look in /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/ for drivers. All the USB drivers are in the usb/ subdirectory. On my system:

$ for f in * ; do echo -ne "$f 	" ; modinfo $f | grep ^description ; done

asix.ko     description:    ASIX AX8817X based USB 2.0 Ethernet Devices

catc.ko     description:    CATC EL1210A NetMate USB Ethernet driver

cdc_eem.ko  description:    USB CDC EEM

cdc_ether.ko    description:    USB CDC Ethernet devices

cdc_ncm.ko  description:    USB CDC NCM host driver

cdc-phonet.ko   description:    USB CDC Phonet host interface

cdc_subset.ko   description:    Simple 'CDC Subset' USB networking links

cx82310_eth.ko  description:    Conexant CX82310-based ADSL router USB ethernet driver

dm9601.ko   description:    Davicom DM9601 USB 1.1 ethernet devices

gl620a.ko   description:    GL620-USB-A Host-to-Host Link cables

hso.ko  description:    USB High Speed Option driver

int51x1.ko  description:    Intellon usb powerline adapter

ipheth.ko   description:    Apple iPhone USB Ethernet driver

kaweth.ko   description:    KL5USB101 USB Ethernet driver

mcs7830.ko  description:    USB to network adapter MCS7830)

net1080.ko  description:    NetChip 1080 based USB Host-to-Host Links

pegasus.ko  description:    Pegasus/Pegasus II USB Ethernet driver

plusb.ko    description:    Prolific PL-2301/2302 USB Host to Host Link Driver

rndis_host.ko   description:    USB Host side RNDIS driver

rtl8150.ko  description:    rtl8150 based usb-ethernet driver

sierra_net.ko   description:    USB-to-WWAN Driver for Sierra Wireless modems

smsc75xx.ko     description:    SMSC75XX USB 2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Devices

smsc95xx.ko     description:    SMSC95XX USB 2.0 Ethernet Devices

usbnet.ko   description:    USB network driver framework

zaurus.ko   description:    Sharp Zaurus PDA, and compatible products

One thing that this cannot show is the driver quality  -- which varies from driver to driver and device to device. There's nothing to be done but web searches for specific devices you're interested in and seeing if people generally have success or complaints -- knowing that most people will report complaints but not that their equipment works fine.