Unfortunately, Windows has had a virtual monopoly on the desktop for
many years and a lot of programs are written specifically for it and
there's nobody who can re-write the code for Linux - or rather the
ones who could do it are all tied up on other projects :-(

R> Some will run under WINE but too quirky to be usable.

Have you considered Virtual software ( VBox / VMWare ) to run WinXP
within Ubuntu ? That way you get the best of both worlds and don't
have to give up one for the other