diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2caaa88..b838478 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3)
 project(colonel C ASM)
 
 set(TARGET_NAME "colonel.bin")
+set(TARGET_VERSION "0.1")
 
 if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
 	set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "release")
@@ -53,13 +54,14 @@ if(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} MATCHES "i.86")
 		"src/kernel/arch/x86/")
 endif()
 
-add_executable(${TARGET_NAME} ${SRCS})
+# version pre-processor definition
+add_compile_options($<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:C>:-DVERSION="${TARGET_VERSION}">)
 
-add_custom_target(build-iso
-	COMMAND mkdir -p isodir/boot/grub/
-	COMMAND cp ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/configs/grub.cfg isodir/boot/grub/
-	COMMAND cp ${TARGET_NAME} isodir/boot/
-	COMMAND grub-mkrescue -o colonel.iso isodir
-	DEPENDS ${TARGET_NAME}
-	COMMENT "Building ISO iamge..."
-	SOURCES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/configs/grub.cfg)
+# allow debug info to be printed if necessary
+if(${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} STREQUAL "debug")
+	add_compile_options($<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:C>:-DDEBUG>)
+else()
+	add_compile_options($<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:C>:-DNDEBUG>)
+endif()
+
+add_executable(${TARGET_NAME} ${SRCS})
diff --git a/README b/README
index 21a4a34..f664cef 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -25,18 +25,17 @@ architecture. You can find the available toolchains for building in the
   make
 
 This should create a release build of the project. If you would like debug
-flags then add the `-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug' option to the `cmake' command. If
-you would like to build an ISO file then run the `build-iso' make target.
+flags then add the `-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug' option to the `cmake' command.
 
 # Testing
 ---------
 The safest environment to test this in would be an emulator. The one I use is
-QEMU (https://www.qemu.org/). You can run the ISO image directly under QEMU,
-and the kernel itself (i.e. `colonel.bin') can be run by using the `-kernel'
-option. If you'd like to debug the kernel using QEMU and GDB you can do so by
-running `qemu -S -s -kernel colonel.bin', which will open a server on localhost
-allowing you to connect with GDB for debugging. At this point you can connect
-to the server and load the symbols by running the following in the GDB prompt:
+QEMU (https://www.qemu.org/). You can run the kernel directly (i.e.
+`colonel.bin') by using the `-kernel' option. If you'd like to debug the kernel
+using QEMU and GDB you can do so by running `qemu -S -s -kernel colonel.bin'.,
+which will open a server on `localhost' allowing you to connect with GDB for
+debugging. At this point you can connect to the server and load the symbols by
+running the following in the GDB prompt:
 
   (gdb) target remote localhost:1234
   (gdb) symbol-file colonel.bin
diff --git a/configs/grub.cfg b/configs/grub.cfg
deleted file mode 100644
index a7c241d..0000000
--- a/configs/grub.cfg
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-menuentry "ColonelOS" {
-	multiboot /boot/colonel.bin
-}