Version Check is a basic operation which every developer does while building applications. Wrong Conditions may cause Application Compatibility issues to both developers and users, when they look at migrating the existing applications to a newer OS. The Windows version is actually composed of a bunch of different fields, all packed into an OSVERSIONINFO structure.
The relevant parts of the OSVERSIONINFO are:
- Major Version (dwMajorVersion)
- Minor Version (dwMinorVersion)
- Build # (dwBuildNumber)
List of Windows Client OS with their Version Numbers
| Operating System | Version Number |
| Windows 1.0 | 1.04 |
| Windows 2.0 | 2.11 |
| Windows 3.0 | 3 |
| Windows NT 3.1 | 3.10.528 |
| Windows for Workgroups 3.11 | 3.11 |
| Windows NT Workstation 3.5 | 3.5.807 |
| Windows NT Workstation 3.51 | 3.51.1057 |
| Windows 95 | 4.0.950 |
| Windows NT Workstation 4.0 | 4.0.1381 |
| Windows 98 | 4.1.1998 |
| Windows 98 Second Edition | 4.1.2222 |
| Windows Me | 4.90.3000 |
| Windows 2000 Professional | 5.0.2195 |
| Windows XP | 5.1.2600 |
| Windows Vista | 6.0.6000 |
| Windows 7 | 6.1.7600 |
Yochay Kiriaty says that “A lot can go wrong when version checking is misused. A user might experience a “silent fail” where the application simply fails to load and nothing happens. Or, a user might see a dialog box indicating something to the effect of “you must be running Microsoft Windows XP or later” when in fact, the computer is running Windows 7. Many other consequences to poor version checking can inconvenience users as well.”
Reference- Windows Team Blog
Using appropriate conditions to determine the OS is a very important step to ensure App-Compatibility. For more information on App-Compat Operating System Versioning and Windows 7 RTM – Read Here and Here
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Vijay is a passionate Technology Evangelist and expertised in Application Setup and Deployment. He is a Microsoft MVP and STEP Member for Windows 7. 
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Version details are clearly stated. All should notice here is Windows 7 is not a MS version 7 its 6.1 series. Still I wonder Why MS named Windows7?
Dude, it was because., Windows 7 is the seventh major release from MS.
From now on..its gonna be that way for MS.., I Guess. So no more River/Animal/Island name for OS.
Do you have the appropriate version numbers for the Server Operating Systems as well. I would only need Windows 2003 Server and higher; and is their a difference in version numbers when you go between different variations like Enterprise or Standard or Datacenter?
Thanks,
Scott Drucker
Sales Engineer
Scalable Software
9148 Bonita Beach Rd. Suite 210
Bonita Springs, Fl 34135
(856) 283-4257 Office
(856) 430-1400 Cell
Windows Server 2003 -> 5.2
Windows Server 2003 R2 -> 5.2
Windows Server 2008 -> 6.0
Windows Server 2008 R2 -> 6.1
When you go between different variations like Enterprise or Standard or Datacenter, there is no difference of version. All editions has same version of Windows Server family.
Much obliged Ramesh.
Scott Drucker
Sales Engineer
Scalable Software
9148 Bonita Beach Rd. Suite 210
Bonita Springs, Fl 34135
(856) 283-4257 Office
(856) 430-1400 Cell
Good and short name-Windows 7. Easy to know the names rather than remembering those tough names…
Additional Information on VersionNT properties and OS Build Numbers –
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa37055...
An additional column with Code Name would have been great