Windows versions

Determining versions

winver.exe

One method to determine the Windows version is using winver.exe which displays the version in a message box.

PowerShell

With PowerShell, the version can be determined like so:

PS C:\> [environment]::osVersion.version

Major  Minor  Build  Revision
-----  -----  -----  --------
10     0      17763  0

PS C:\> [environment]::osVersion.versionString

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.17763.0

The type of [environment]::osVersion.version is System.Version

Note, Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 all have version 6, but are distinguished by their minor number, as per the table below.

get-computerInfo | select-object osVersion

cmd.exe

cmd.exe has the built-in command ver that prints the Windows version:

C:\> ver

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.168]

Registry

The following batch file queries the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion to show some version related values:

@echo off
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion

rem
rem needed for aligned output.
rem
set spaces=                  

for %%v in (CurrentVersion ProductName CurrentBuildNumber EditionID InstallationType ReleaseId) do (
  for /f "tokens=3 usebackq" %%a in (`reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /v %%v`) do (
    set keyNameWithSpaces=%%v!spaces!
      rem
      rem ~0,19 returns the first 19 characters
      rem  of keyNameWithSpaces and thus creates
      rem  aligned output.
      rem
      echo !keyNameWithSpaces:~0,19!: %%a
  )
)

Github repository about-Windows-Registry, path: /HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/determine-Windows-version.bat

The script might print something like

CurrentVersion     : 6.1
ProductName        : Windows
CurrentBuildNumber : 7601
EditionID          : Enterprise
InstallationType   : Client
ReleaseId          : 1809

Of course, this is simpler with PowerShell:

PS C:\> get-itemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' | select-object `
  currentBuild,
  currentMajorVersionNumber,
  currentMinorVersionNumber,
  releaseId,
  editionId,
  productName

CurrentBuild              : 17763
CurrentMajorVersionNumber : 10
CurrentMinorVersionNumber : 0
ReleaseId                 : 1809
EditionID                 : Professional
ProductName               : Windows 10 Pro

Using systeminfo.exe

Besides other information, systeminfo.exe prints OS Version and name.

In cmd.exe with findstr.exe. Note, because the regular expression capabilities of findstr.exe don't support alternations, its not easy to restrict the output to OS Name and OS Version:

C:\Users\Rene>systeminfo | findstr OS
OS Name:                   Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise
OS Version:                6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
OS Manufacturer:           Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration:          Member Workstation
OS Build Type:             Multiprocessor Free
BIOS Version:              Dell Inc. A21, 01.02.2018

In PowerShell, it's easier to search for lines that match a list of regular expressions:

PS C:\> systeminfo | select-string "^OS Name", "^OS Version"
 
OS Name:                   Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise
OS Version:                6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

net config workstation

net config workstation prints, among other information, the version which can be findstr'ed (grepped):

PS C:\> net config workstation | findstr /c:"Software version"
Software version                     Windows 10 Pro
PS C:\>

PROMPT environment variable in cmd.exe

cmd.exe, if the %PROMPT% environment variable contains a $V, it is replaced with a Windows Version text, for example Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601].

Windows version and edition

The Windows version and edition (but not the build number) can be shown by using the Windows shortcut key Windows-key + Pause/break.

Version equivalency

Internal Vers. Nr	Product name	Server	Release date	Codename	`#define WINVER`
`winver`
3.1	Windows NT 3.1		July 1993		`0x0400`
3.5	Windows NT 3.5		Sept 1994
3.51	Windows NT 3.51		May 1995
4	Windows NT		July 1996		`0x0400`	`_WIN32_WINNT_NT4`
5	Windows 2000		Dec 1999		`0x0500`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WIN2K`
5.1	Windows XP		Aug 2001		`0x0501`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WINXP`
5.2	Windows Server 2003	✓	Mar 2003		`0x0502`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WINXP`
5.2	Windows Server 2003 R2	✓	Dec 2005		`0x0502`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WINXP`
	Windows Small Business Server 2003	✓
	Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2	✓
6	Windows Vista		Jan 2007		`0x0600`	`_WIN32_WINNT_VISTA`
6.1	Windows Server 2008	✓	Mar 2008		?	?
	Windows Small Business Server 2008	✓
	Windows Server 2008 R2	✓
6.1	Windows 7		Oct 2009		`0x0601`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WIN7`
	Windows Home Server 2007	✓
6.2	Windows 8		Oct 2012		`0x0602`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WIN8`
	Windows Small Business Server 2011	✓
	Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011	✓
6.2	Windows Server 2012		Oct 2012		`0x0602`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WIN7`
6.3	Windows 8.1		Oct 2013		`0x0603`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WINBLUE`
6.3	Windows Server 2012 R2		Oct 2013		?	?
10.0 (Build 10240)	Windows 10		Jul 2015	Threshold 1	`0x0A00`	`_WIN32_WINNT_WIN10`
10.0 (Build 10586)	Windows 10 vers. 1511		Nov 2015	Threshold 2	?	?
10.0 (Build 14393)	Windows 10 vers. 1607		Jul 2016	Redstone 1	?	?
?	Windows Server 2016		Oct 2016	Redstone 2 ?	?	?
?				Redstone 3 ?
10.0 (Build 17134)			Apr 2018	Redstone 4
10.0 (Build 17763)			Oct 2018	Redstone 5
	Windows Server 2019	✓

The versions numbers 1511 and 1607 refer to the the year and month (11/2015 and 07/2016, respectively)

Build 14393/Version 1607 is also referred to as anniversary update.

It includes a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in beta state (for developers only). It is not a real subsystem, however, like Console or GUI.

Windows 8 introduced a new API: the Windows Runtime (Windows RT) which is built on TOP of COM and aim at building Windows Apps.

See also the SDKDDKVer.h header file in the Windows SDK.