Hands on experience is the best teacher and you seem to be a quick learner!
Don't give up on Mastercook. I downloaded it and will play with it on my XP VM.
It sounds like you have a powerful enough system if you can run Vista in a VM.
Not being a Vista guy, I can't help much in that department. My Windows days are
long behind me. If something does not work in Linux then I learn to do without
it. Fortunately my needs are modest.

I used to be quite proficient with Photoshop, Corel Draw and Paintshop Pro, but
even that has fallen into disuse as I have taught myself to use the Gimp and
Inkscape. There isn't much I can't do with them. The basics are there; it is
just a matter of re-learning them in a new environment. A professional
photographer may need more features and be willing to shell out big bucks for
Photoshop, but most people don't need it. I feel the same way about most other
Windows programmes. Most users don't use all of the advanced features of
MSOffice for example, so can get by with OpenOffice.

It is more that most people do not want to re-learn which is why I find
ex-Windows users like you to be refreshing. You are willing to take on new
challenges and try new things. Incidentally, Gourmet does not work on my
computer either. However, my system is far from the standard Ubuntu/ Kubuntu
installation.