Windows version

This article applies to Windows only.

See also: Multiplatform Programming Guide

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This article is about Windows programming. Obtaining information on the version of the running Windows instance is important for many purposes.

Traditional approach

The function below is intended for older versions. It determines the version of the current Windows installation. Please note that the GetVersion function is deprecated in Windows 8.1 and newer versions. For a more universal approach using version helpers, as described below, is recommended.

uses
  Windows, SysUtils, ...;
  ...
{
Meaning of Windows version numbers:
5.0 => Windows 2000
5.1 => Windows XP
5.2 => Windows XP64 or Windows 2003 Server
6.0 => Windows Vista or Windows 2008 Server
6.1 => Windows 7 or Windows 2008 Server R2
6.2 => Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012
6.3 => Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 RS
}

function funGetWinVer: string;
// Returns the Windows version number as a string
begin
  Result := IntToStr(LOBYTE(LOWORD(GetVersion)));
  Result := Result + '.';
  Result := Result + IntToStr(HIBYTE(LOWORD(GetVersion)));
end;

Using version helpers

Alternatively, the SysUtils unit provides the Windows version information in variables:

program EchoWinVersion;
uses sysutils;
...
begin
  Writeln('Win32 Platform    : ', Win32Platform    );
  Writeln('Win32 Major Version: ', Win32MajorVersion);
  Writeln('Win32 Minor Version: ', Win32MinorVersion);
  Writeln('Win32 Build Number : ', Win32BuildNumber );
  Writeln('Win32 CSD Version  : ', Win32CSDVersion  );
  readln;
end.

The output looks like this for Windows 7 Service Pack 1:

Win32 Platform    : 2
Win32 Major Version: 6
Win32 Minor Version: 1
Win32 Build Number : 7601
Win32 CSD Version  : Service Pack 1

The output looks like this for Windows 10 Pro Build 18362 (64 bit):

Win32 Platform    : 2
Win32 Major Version: 6
Win32 Minor Version: 2
Win32 Build Number : 9200
Win32 CSD Version  : 

which is obviously wrong :(

Using predefined constants provided by the FPC compiler

The following works for identifying Windows 11 and all older versions:

uses ..., Win32Proc;

function GetWinVersion: string;
begin
  case WindowsVersion of
    wv95: Result:= 'Windows 95';
    wvNT4: Result:= 'Windows NT v.4';
    //etc. 
    //see possible values in the unit "win32proc" in "lcl/interfaces/win32/win32proc.pp"
  end;
end.

References

1. Windows Developer: Operating system version changes in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. 05/31/2018