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Windows desktop applications Develop Desktop technologies System Services Windows System Information System Information Using System Information Getting the System Version
Getting the System Version

The following example uses the Version API Helper functions to determine the version of the current operating system, if it is a Server or Client release, and then displays this information to the console. If compatibility mode is in effect, the example displays the operating system selected for application compatibility.

To obtain the full version number for the operating system, call the GetFileVersionInfo function on one of the system DLLs, such as Kernel32.dll, then call VerQueryValue to obtain the \\StringFileInfo\\<lang><codepage>\\ProductVersion subblock of the file version information.

Relying on version information is not the best way to test for a feature. Instead, refer to the documentation for the feature of interest. For more information on common techniques for feature detection, see Operating System Version.



#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <VersionHelpers.h>

int 
__cdecl
wmain(
    __in int argc, 
    __in_ecount(argc) PCWSTR argv[]
    )
{
    UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(argc);
    UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(argv);

    if (IsWindowsXPOrGreater())
    {
        printf("XPOrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindowsXPSP1OrGreater())
    {
        printf("XPSP1OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindowsXPSP2OrGreater())
    {
        printf("XPSP2OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindowsXPSP3OrGreater())
    {
        printf("XPSP3OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindowsVistaOrGreater())
    {
        printf("VistaOrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindowsVistaSP1OrGreater())
    {
        printf("VistaSP1OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindowsVistaSP2OrGreater())
    {
        printf("VistaSP2OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindows7OrGreater())
    {
        printf("Windows7OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindows7SP1OrGreater())
    {
        printf("Windows7SP1OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindows8OrGreater())
    {
        printf("Windows8OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindows8Point1OrGreater())
    {
        printf("Windows8Point1OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindows10OrGreater())
    {
        printf("Windows10OrGreater\n");
    }

    if (IsWindowsServer())
    {
        printf("Server\n");
    }
    else
    {
        printf("Client\n");
    }
}