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Thanks, but what is the easiest way for me to boot this kernel.bin file?

The barebones tutorial tells you exactly how to do it. However you need to install cygwin or use a Linux (possibly virtual) machine to get all the tools needed. 'Easiest' depends on your current situation and knowledge. I've never tried it but I believe Qemu has a built in bootloader. I guess if that works it would be the easiest.

You may want to use unsigned char instead of char for the videomem pointer, this way you can use all 256 characters, and all text colors.

gerryg400 wrote:However you need to install cygwin or use a Linux (possibly virtual) machine to get all the tools needed.

Could you explain why one needs Cygwin or Linux in order to do what OP wants to?

Cygwin/Linux would most likely be for GCC if you choose to use it, which is quite likely, but you could use another C compiler (such as OpenWatcom's) and their linker. I myself use NASM + GCC (in MinGW) and wlink (OpenWatcom's linker), but might switch GCC for OW. If your using GRUB, OpenWatcom happily works with ELFs.

Fanael wrote:

gerryg400 wrote:However you need to install cygwin or use a Linux (possibly virtual) machine to get all the tools needed.

Could you explain why one needs Cygwin or Linux in order to do what OP wants to?

Because a single install of cygwin (or linux) contains the whole pipeline of tools to build, test, run, and distribute your work. You get a compiler, linker, link archiver, build tool, image tools, image writers, and compression utilities in one convenient package. And it's all command-line based so it becomes easy to perform all tasks under a single command.

And it's better to stick to an established standard when having problems instead of deviating from it without knowing what you do - it essentially eliminates the environment as a factor. So yes, we expect the OP to use cygwin unless he has a convincing reason not to.