My XP Pro machine (love it) is now off line. Anything connected is with a separate machine running Mint 16. I also have a Win 7 Pro PC with Mint and my “no Linux equivalent” Windows applications running under Wine.
Except for two ham radio programs that have to have Windows, I can be pretty much Windows free.
Have you tried the HAM apps on VirtualBox?
Have you ever checked out the Linux releases that have been tailored to ham radio users’ needs? Pretty nifty software bundling.