OSVERSIONINFOA structure (winnt.h)
Contains operating system version information. The information includes major and minor version numbers, a build number, a platform identifier, and descriptive text about the operating system. This structure is used with the GetVersionEx function.
To obtain additional version information, use the OSVERSIONINFOEX structure with GetVersionEx instead.
Syntax
typedef struct _OSVERSIONINFOA {
DWORD dwOSVersionInfoSize;
DWORD dwMajorVersion;
DWORD dwMinorVersion;
DWORD dwBuildNumber;
DWORD dwPlatformId;
CHAR szCSDVersion[128];
} OSVERSIONINFOA, *POSVERSIONINFOA, *LPOSVERSIONINFOA;
Members
dwOSVersionInfoSize
The size of this data structure, in bytes. Set this member to sizeof(OSVERSIONINFO).
dwMajorVersion
The major version number of the operating system. For more information, see Remarks.
dwMinorVersion
The minor version number of the operating system. For more information, see Remarks.
dwBuildNumber
The build number of the operating system.
dwPlatformId
The operating system platform. This member can be the following value.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
The operating system is Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000. |
szCSDVersion[128]
A null-terminated string, such as "Service Pack 3", that indicates the latest Service Pack installed on the system. If no Service Pack has been installed, the string is empty.
Remarks
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.
If you must require a particular operating system, be sure to use it as a minimum supported version, rather than design the test for the one operating system. This way, your detection code will continue to work on future versions of Windows.
The following table summarizes the values returned by supported versions of Windows. Use the information in the column labeled "Other" to distinguish between operating systems with identical version numbers.
| Operating system | Version number | dwMajorVersion | dwMinorVersion | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 | 10.0* | 10 | 0 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType == VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows Server 2016 | 10.0* | 10 | 0 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType != VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows 8.1 | 6.3* | 6 | 3 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType == VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 | 6.3* | 6 | 3 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType != VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows 8 | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType == VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows Server 2012 | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType != VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows 7 | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType == VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows Server 2008 R2 | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType != VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows Server 2008 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType != VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows Vista | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | OSVERSIONINFOEX.wProductType == VER_NT_WORKSTATION |
| Windows Server 2003 R2 | 5.2 | 5 | 2 | GetSystemMetrics(SM_SERVERR2) != 0 |
| Windows Server 2003 | 5.2 | 5 | 2 | GetSystemMetrics(SM_SERVERR2) == 0 |
| Windows XP | 5.1 | 5 | 1 | Not applicable |
| Windows 2000 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | Not applicable |
| * For applications that have been manifested for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. Applications not manifested for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 will return the Windows 8 OS version value (6.2). To manifest your applications for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, refer to Targeting your application for Windows. | ||||
Examples
For an example, see Getting the System Version.
Note
The winnt.h header defines OSVERSIONINFO as an alias that automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that is not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.
Requirements
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Minimum supported client | Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only] |
| Minimum supported server | Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only] |
| Header | winnt.h (include Windows.h) |