For people who can spare $100-$200, I recommend buying an old ThinkPad or Dell business class laptop off eBay. Install Windows, update it, and stick it in your closet.

Because yes, sometimes you just need a Windows machine. VMs will cover most one off Windows requirements, but nothing beats a bare metal install.

Obviously this is not a solution for gaming, just the odd piece of Windows only software you need to run, or hardware you need to interface with that doesn't have Linux drivers.