are there any unofficial compatibility layers for windows 98 programs on modern day windows systems

[rider]

im thinking of something like kernelex but in reverse

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

No, No such thing exists. You actually need an older computer running XP on it, or try sometimes you can get some programs and games to work in XP on vmware, but that has a pretty low success rate.