Determine if O/S is Windows 7

Question

Working on a project and need to be able to determine whether the O/S is Windows 7, Vista or default to XP. I understand I could run into Win2K and earlier versions but let's just say that's not a concern as other code will catch that before it gets to this point. My application will be in C++ for the time being using VS2005. I've found articles and sample code alike but they seem way bloated for my uses. Just looking for a quick and dirty return.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724358%28VS.85%29.aspx

Answer 1

Generally, you can use GetVersionEx to find the Windows version. A safer way would perhaps be to use VerifyVersionInfo. There are C examples for both GetVersionEx and VerifyVersionInfo.

However, as repeatedly stated on MSDN checking for the operating system version is usually not the best way of determining whether a particular feature is present.

Answer 2

List of Windows Version, using GetVersionEx:

Version Number    Description
6.1               Windows 7     / Windows 2008 R2
6.0               Windows Vista / Windows 2008
5.2               Windows 2003 
5.1               Windows XP
5.0               Windows 2000

Answer 3

In general, you don't want to be testing against a specific version number, but rather checking for a particular feature. If you really want to detect "Windows 7 or later," however...

#include <windows.h>

bool IsWin7OrLater() {
    DWORD version = GetVersion();
    DWORD major = (DWORD) (LOBYTE(LOWORD(version)));
    DWORD minor = (DWORD) (HIBYTE(LOWORD(version)));

    return (major > 6) || ((major == 6) && (minor >= 1));
}

For 2000, compare major and minor against 5 and 0, respectively. For XP, compare against 5 and 1. For Vista, 6 and 0.

Answer 4

The Windows 8.1 SDK¹⁾ introduced a number of Version Helper functions, that help determine the version of the OS an application is running on:

#include <VersionHelpers.h>

...

    if ( IsWindows7OrGreater() ) {
        // Windows 7 or above
    } else if ( IsWindowsVistaOrGreater() ) {
        // Windows Vista
    } else if ( IsWindowsXPOrGreater() ) {
        // Windows XP
    } else {
        // Unsupported version of Windows
    }

If you need to distinguish between client and server editions of Windows, you can call IsWindowsServer.

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¹⁾ The Windows 8.1 SDK can be used to build applications for all supported versions of Windows.