it could always do winlink at the slower VARA speeds

I'll be testing this weekend, but theoretically yes- multi-tone modes like winlink are specifically mentioned and this release was held until it could pass a two-tone test with decent performance.

did it work?

Maybe. When using ARDOP, my laptop generates an audio stream that is then transmitted over SSB, so theoretically it might work.

We have SSB, audio in/out, and cat control, so all the pieces are there.