Isn't "COM file" something specific to DOS? How does it differ from a machine binary file, i.e. what GCC (or a linker) would spit out of the ASM code? (The makefile uses nasm, thought)
> Since it lacks relocation information, it is loaded by the operating system at a pre-set address, at offset 0100h immediately following the PSP, where it is executed (hence the limitation of the executable's size): the entry point is fixed at 0100h.
EXE, OVL and the like had relocatable segments, whereas the memory images assumed all segments were within the code segment. cs=ds=es and the stack you just crammed somewhere in that space, usually at the end of the literal code, but still very much inside the space of the one segment you could access.
If you now wonder what the difference between a .com and a .exe file is:
A .com file has a single page which is loaded in that specific location, with all addresses in the code assuming absolute addresses. The .exe (MZ file) allows DOS to put the program anywhere into memory and the rewrite address references (or rather segments) according the relocation table from the program header. With MZ files DOS also sets up space for the stack and sets registers accordingly.