How to tell if the OS is Windows XP or higher?

Question

I am trying to play with the Environment.OSVersion.Version object and can't really tell what version would indicate that the OS is Windows XP or higher (e.g. I want to exclude Windows 2000, ME or previous versions).

Solution 1

Use the System.OperatingSystem object, then filter on the Major & Minor version numbers.

I've used these functions in the past:

static bool IsWinXPOrHigher()
{
    OperatingSystem OS = Environment.OSVersion;
    return (OS.Platform == PlatformID.Win32NT) && ((OS.Version.Major > 5) || ((OS.Version.Major == 5) && (OS.Version.Minor >= 1)));
}

static bool IsWinVistaOrHigher()
{
    OperatingSystem OS = Environment.OSVersion;
    return (OS.Platform == PlatformID.Win32NT) && (OS.Version.Major >= 6);
}

Solution 2

Check the Major property is greater than or equal to 5, and if 5 then Minor is at least 1. (XP was 5.1, 2003 was 5.2, Vista/2008 were 6.0).

List of Windows Version Numbers on MSDN.

Solution 3

You shouldn't check the version number. Instead, you should check for the functionality you need. If it is a specific API you're after for example, LoadLibrary and GetProcAddress it - that way, you're not dependent on the version number.

Comments

[William Leara]

Note that WinXP 32-bit is version 5.1; WinXP 64-bit is version 5.2.

[daramarak]

Given that an dependency is the reason he needs the version, that is a really good idea.

[Stewart]

And this is exactly why you should look for the thing you need instead of checking the version number, and why Win7 is version 6.1 and not 7.0. Checking the version number is easy to get wrong, and doesn't always tell you what you wanted to know.

[AngryHacker]

How would you check whether the OS support RegFree COM?

[AngryHacker]

Is PlatformID still Win32NT if the OS is 64 bit?

[ParmesanCodice]

@AngryHacker PlatformID.Win32 = "The operating system is Windows NT or later.", so yes.

[Stewart]

Try to load a component from your manifest. If it doesn't work, the platform doesn't support regfree COM

[AngryHacker]

I changed the code for IsWinXp to check whether it's Windows XP or higher. Same with Vista.

[monkey0506]

I'm somewhat torn on this particular answer. If there is a specific API, for example, that can be checked for (simply), then I do agree that checking for that API is indeed the better route. However, I am in the situation that I needed to know if a specific system utility exists, which changed from XP to Vista. The cleanest way I can think to check this is just check OS version, not try and start some non-existent process and check for failure! If the utility I'm looking for doesn't exist after the version check, the OS is corrupted anyway.

[Stewart]

Then check for the existence of the utility. Checking the os version is so easy to get wrong, and if the user shims your process with a version lie checking the version doesn't tell you what you want to know anyway.