Not sure if you know this or not:
I was checking out the Rockware software catalog (
http://www.rockware.com), looking at pro geology programs that cost more than a new computer. Boy, was I ever surprised to find out that Windows is like a defacto standard for this kind of stuff. Maybe 5% of all programs in the catalog are available for a Mac and 10% are *nix compatible. And you have to assume that these are high end programs that would tax most emulators.
I wasn't planning on buying any $3k water chemistry analyzers, but dammit, somebody is going to buy them, and they are going to install them on Winboxes. Once day this site is going to be flooded with complaints from hydrologists and petrochemists who want to switch but just can't. Kinda like the gamers now.