Stick with WinXP in VM then - it'll do the job and isn't that onerous
to fire up a session and run alongside Ubuntu :-)

You'll still need a Windows box though to test the code on unless you
have a few willing volunteers. Code that works in virtual environment
may not work out of it ( and vice-versa ), WinXP is coming to end of
life too so you'll also need Win7 to test on.

BM> VB is the only language I know, so that is what I use.