Just to throw something constructive in here, if you're going to be doing both 16-bit and 32-bit,
why not make a challenge for yourself? Pull an OS/2 and give yourself source compatibility both
ways, and binary compatibility 16->32. That way, if you're really worried about disappointing
anyone, you can at least tell yourself, "Hey, this is unique in OSDev, and if it's not working out,
no wonder." For me, at least, it'd be interesting to see an x86-centric OS in here that had some
kind of 286 support.
As an afterthought, if you're careful about your conventions, you can even
have the same 8086 program run happily in real mode, 16-bit pmode, and 32-bit pmode, just like
OS/2 family mode programs.