[python-win32] Is there a _simple_ way to find out what version of Windows you are running?

[Laura Creighton]

Hi, I am one of the python.org webmasters. We get people -- often children
who want to install python on their computers but don't know what OS they
are running. Nearly all of these people are running Windows, though I
did get somebody who was running FreeBSD the other day. :)

Microsoft tells you to do this:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system

This is asking an awful lot of the people who are mailing webmaster
and who don't know what OS they are running. It is futile to tell
these people methods to find out what OS version they are running that vary
depending on what OS you have, so I am looking for a thing you can do on
any version of windows which will reliably spit out the correct
answer.

something along the lines of the windows XP discovery:

Click the Start button, click Run, type winver, and then press Enter.

looks good. Perhaps it has to be:
open a command window (but do you do the same thing to do that on all
windows versions?) and type winver

Now that page, of course, supposedly tells you what version you are
running if you connect to it over the internet with the machine you
want to test. But not having a windows system or 12 to test with,
I am not sure what the results are, and whether that will in itself
be good enough for people who just want to learn how to get Python.

thanks very much,
Laura

[Tim Golden]

Post by Laura Creighton
Hi, I am one of the python.org webmasters. We get people -- often children
who want to install python on their computers but don't know what OS they
are running. Nearly all of these people are running Windows, though I
did get somebody who was running FreeBSD the other day. :)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system
This is asking an awful lot of the people who are mailing webmaster
and who don't know what OS they are running. It is futile to tell
these people methods to find out what OS version they are running that vary
depending on what OS you have, so I am looking for a thing you can do on
any version of windows which will reliably spit out the correct
answer.

Windows + Pause/Break [*] will produce the system info window showing
the Windows version, including Service Pack, and bit-ness, for any
recent version of Windows.

It does look slightly different on each version, but the Version
string/name is always at the top in a section called something like
"Windows edition". I'll see if I can get screenshots up somewhere.

I've just confirmed this on:

WinXP
Win 7
Win 8.1
Server 2003
Server 2008 R2
Server 2012 R2

TJG

[*] That's using the Windows key like a shift and tapping the key
usually labelled Pause/Break. You can get to this window in other ways,
but those *do* vary from system to system, while the keyboard shortcut
works everywhere AFAIK.

[Laura Creighton]

Post by Tim Golden
Windows + Pause/Break [*] will produce the system info window showing
the Windows version, including Service Pack, and bit-ness, for any
recent version of Windows.
It does look slightly different on each version, but the Version
string/name is always at the top in a section called something like
"Windows edition". I'll see if I can get screenshots up somewhere.
WinXP
Win 7
Win 8.1
Server 2003
Server 2008 R2
Server 2012 R2
TJG
[*] That's using the Windows key like a shift and tapping the key
usually labelled Pause/Break. You can get to this window in other ways,
but those *do* vary from system to system, while the keyboard shortcut
works everywhere AFAIK.

Wonderful. Now if any Vista people and RT people can confirm it works
for them too, I think I will have the whole set. except CE? Does that
run anywhere except phones/tablets?

Laura

[Tim Roberts]

Post by Laura Creighton
Wonderful. Now if any Vista people and RT people can confirm it works
for them too, I think I will have the whole set.

The RT user experience is identical to Windows 8. It works there.

The Vista start button is the same as Windows 7.

Server 2008 is the same as Vista, Server 2008R2 is the same as Windows
7, Server 2012 is the same as Windows 8, Server 2012R2 is the same as
Windows 8.1. Think you have them all covered.

Post by Laura Creighton
except CE? Does that run anywhere except phones/tablets?

It runs on a lot of weird embedded devices, but the user experience is
not as consistent as the desktop version. Too many manufacturer
tweaks. Plus, anyone who is running Python on a CE device knows what
they are doing and will be able to answer the question without your help.

[Laura Creighton]

Post by Tim Roberts

Post by Laura Creighton
Wonderful. Now if any Vista people and RT people can confirm it works
for them too, I think I will have the whole set.

The RT user experience is identical to Windows 8. It works there.
The Vista start button is the same as Windows 7.
Server 2008 is the same as Vista, Server 2008R2 is the same as Windows
7, Server 2012 is the same as Windows 8, Server 2012R2 is the same as
Windows 8.1. Think you have them all covered.

Post by Laura Creighton
except CE? Does that run anywhere except phones/tablets?

It runs on a lot of weird embedded devices, but the user experience is
not as consistent as the desktop version. Too many manufacturer
tweaks. Plus, anyone who is running Python on a CE device knows what
they are doing and will be able to answer the question without your help.
--
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

Thank you very, very much.

Laura

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

Post by Laura Creighton
Wonderful. Now if any Vista people and RT people can confirm it works
for them too, I think I will have the whole set. except CE? Does that
run anywhere except phones/tablets?

My ancient HP PDA... And as I recall, it is the underlying OS of my old
Sega DreamCast.

[Tim Golden]

Post by Tim Golden

Post by Laura Creighton
Hi, I am one of the python.org webmasters. We get people -- often children
who want to install python on their computers but don't know what OS they
are running. Nearly all of these people are running Windows, though I
did get somebody who was running FreeBSD the other day. :)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system
This is asking an awful lot of the people who are mailing webmaster
and who don't know what OS they are running. It is futile to tell
these people methods to find out what OS version they are running that vary
depending on what OS you have, so I am looking for a thing you can do on
any version of windows which will reliably spit out the correct
answer.

Windows + Pause/Break [*] will produce the system info window showing
the Windows version, including Service Pack, and bit-ness, for any
recent version of Windows.
It does look slightly different on each version, but the Version
string/name is always at the top in a section called something like
"Windows edition". I'll see if I can get screenshots up somewhere.

To follow up, I've dropped a Q&D blog post here:

http://ramblings.timgolden.me.uk/2015/10/08/what-windows-version-am-i-running/

with instructions on how to bring the window up, plus examples from
every system I can get my hands on, which doesn't include Vista or 10,
but I assume Vista looks like 7 and 10 looks like 8.

Graham Bloice pointed out that the Pause|Break key isn't present on
newer, laptop/tablet keyboards, so I've added the suggestion of
right-clicking on "My Computer". I've also included the winver.exe
suggestion and msinfo32.exe, both of which give most of the information.
AFAICT, winver.exe doesn't tell you whether you're running 32 or 64/bit.

Hopefully that will help the triage at any rate.

TJG

[Bob Hood]

Post by Laura Creighton
Hi, I am one of the python.org webmasters. We get people -- often children
who want to install python on their computers but don't know what OS they
are running. Nearly all of these people are running Windows, though I
did get somebody who was running FreeBSD the other day. :)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system
This is asking an awful lot of the people who are mailing webmaster
and who don't know what OS they are running. It is futile to tell
these people methods to find out what OS version they are running that vary
depending on what OS you have, so I am looking for a thing you can do on
any version of windows which will reliably spit out the correct
answer.
Click the Start button, click Run, type winver, and then press Enter.

You can reduce it be at least one step:

Windows Key + R, type winver, press Enter.

I tested this with Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10. I don't
have Vista handy, but I assume it will work there as well.

[Patrick Asselman]

Post by Laura Creighton
Hi, I am one of the python.org webmasters. We get people -- often children
who want to install python on their computers but don't know what OS they
are running. Nearly all of these people are running Windows, though I
did get somebody who was running FreeBSD the other day. :)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system

Clicking on a link is too much to ask? Or is the URL too long?
In that case I would suggest to use http://whatsmyos.com/

Post by Laura Creighton
This is asking an awful lot of the people who are mailing webmaster
and who don't know what OS they are running. It is futile to tell
these people methods to find out what OS version they are running that vary
depending on what OS you have, so I am looking for a thing you can do on
any version of windows which will reliably spit out the correct
answer.
Click the Start button, click Run, type winver, and then press Enter.
open a command window (but do you do the same thing to do that on all
windows versions?) and type winver
Now that page, of course, supposedly tells you what version you are
running if you connect to it over the internet with the machine you
want to test. But not having a windows system or 12 to test with,
I am not sure what the results are, and whether that will in itself
be good enough for people who just want to learn how to get Python.

You can check how well it works by using a "user agent switcher" plugin
for your browser.


Best regards,
Patrick

[Laura Creighton]

Post by Patrick Asselman

Post by Laura Creighton
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system

Clicking on a link is too much to ask? Or is the URL too long?
In that case I would suggest to use http://whatsmyos.com/

clicking on the link wasn't the problem. The problem was with
the content -- Microsoft tells you how to find out what OS version
you have with a different procedure based on what OS version you
have. Which, of course, if you already knew the answer to, you
wouldn't need to ask ..

Laura

[Patrick Asselman]

Post by Laura Creighton

Post by Patrick Asselman

Post by Laura Creighton
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system

Clicking on a link is too much to ask? Or is the URL too long?
In that case I would suggest to use http://whatsmyos.com/

clicking on the link wasn't the problem. The problem was with
the content -- Microsoft tells you how to find out what OS version
you have with a different procedure based on what OS version you
have. Which, of course, if you already knew the answer to, you
wouldn't need to ask ..

That is peculiar... on my screen, when I click on that link, I read

"This PC is running: Windows 7"

That's why I was wondering what is so difficult about it...


Best regards,
Patrick

[Laura Creighton]

Post by Patrick Asselman

Post by Laura Creighton

Post by Patrick Asselman

Post by Laura Creighton
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system

Clicking on a link is too much to ask? Or is the URL too long?
In that case I would suggest to use http://whatsmyos.com/

clicking on the link wasn't the problem. The problem was with
the content -- Microsoft tells you how to find out what OS version
you have with a different procedure based on what OS version you
have. Which, of course, if you already knew the answer to, you
wouldn't need to ask ..

That is peculiar... on my screen, when I click on that link, I read
"This PC is running: Windows 7"
That's why I was wondering what is so difficult about it...
Best regards,
Patrick

I know there are some windows users whom I have sent there, and who have
sent me screenshots where they were being told:
"This device isn't running a Windows operating system", which
was incorrect. It may be due to private browsing, or their
language choices, or, actually I don't know what all can cause this.

Laura

[Tim Roberts]

Post by Laura Creighton
I know there are some windows users whom I have sent there, and who have
"This device isn't running a Windows operating system", which
was incorrect. It may be due to private browsing, or their
language choices, or, actually I don't know what all can cause this.

It's not hard to understand. The web server doesn't have access to your
system. It guesses that information based on the HTTP headers that were
sent by the browser. There is no standard for how the browser
identification line is formatted, nor indeed does the standard require
one be present at all. Some browsers are too clever, some intentionally
lie, some don't include it.