If all you use VB for is PP then perhaps PP hub is the way to go. Currently I have 16 different OS's I run in VB so it's no big thing.
One of the limitation using the simulator is that you cannot use any of the probing functions to develop whatever. I solved that problem by making a PCNC simulator that is connected to a computer running PP. The simulator is a single board computer wired to a MESA card using the standard Tormach pinout. In my case I'm using a 7I92H MESA card so I just need a LAN connection to the computer running PP.
So PP boots up as expected and you can do anything that you can do on a real machine. The simulator is controlled via a USB connection to either the computer running PP or on another machine. The simulator control window has all the functions to emulate a real machine plus it allows you to setup trip points for the probing functions.
It's pretty interesting to see what PP does in terms of counts. I guess all this goes away with servos - oh well, it has helped me with my system.
So for the cost of a MESA card, a Teensy 3.5 USB Development Board and some cables I have a PCNC simulator!