Running Tiny Linux Inside Another System?

My father, who is 93 has a problem. I don't have endless hours to
resolve this problem because I'm a senior partner in a business.

I've built many computers and my skill level with most versions of
Windows is advanced. When it comes to Linux distros I'm like the
guy watching mountains goats with a pair of binoculars. I know a
little, watching from a great distance!

My dad is using 98SE and there is nothing I can do or buy that will
persuade him to abandon this old system. That would be fine,
except old browsers no longer render web pages properly. I'm very
aware of KernelEx. It's suppose to perform miracles with 98SE. I've
tried KernelEx with several of the recommended browsers. The results
were horrible.

While googling for a solution I found documents about running Windows
98 inside of a Linux browser, or something like that. Frankly, I'm almost
afraid to read this kind of stuff.

I guess I can ask anything, since I don't know what Linux can or cannot
do. Can you take one of the "mini" distros like Puppy Linux or TinycoreLinux
and run it from a real or virtual partition inside 98SE? If I could create
something like that on my dad's computer, he would be comfortable
because it would seem like an extension of 98SE. If this is possible, he
could launch a modern Linux browser that would restore all the missing
images and dead links that cripple his old browser.

I don't know if this info will help, but I replaced all the old USB 1.0 drivers
with a 2.0 pack created for 98SE. Any USB device like a new flash drive is
installed automatically.

I doubt any current virtual application will run under W98. You did not mention the specs for the computer but I doubt it has the capability to run something like VirtualBox. If your father is unwilling to abandon W98 I'm not sure if there is anything you can do.

Yes, of course you're 100% correct.

My company started when computers had no GUI, hard disks, etc. If I
remember correctly, the first "real" computer I owned was called the 286.
It used 5¼" floppy disks.

It's a very old story. You ask a question when you already know the
answer. Well, I'm glad an expert like yourself replied to my post.

Thank you michaelk.

FWIW, it is possible to make Windows 7 look pretty close to Windows 98.

Zorin is a linux distribution that is designed for windows users. I don't know if it will run on your father's PC without know some specs.

http://zorinos.com/