GetVersion

Overview

Group

Quick Info

Windows NT
Yes
Win95
Yes
Win32s
Yes
Import Library
kernel32.lib
Header File
winbase.h
Unicode
No
Platform Notes
None

The GetVersion function returns the current version number of Windows and information about the operating system platform.

This function has been superseded by GetVersionEx, which is the preferred method for obtaining system version number information. New applications should use GetVersionEx. The GetVersionEx function was developed because many existing Windows applications err when examining the DWORD return value of a GetVersion function call, transposing the major and minor version numbers packed into that DWORD. The GetVersionEx function forces applications to explicitly examine each element of version information, and allows for future enhancements to that information.

DWORD GetVersion(VOID)

Parameters
This function has no parameters.

Return Values
If the function succeeds, the return value is a DWORD value that contains the major and minor version numbers of Windows in the low order word, and information about the operating system platform in the high order word.

For all platforms, the low order word contains the version number of Windows. The low-order byte of this word specifies the major version number, in hexadecimal notation. The high-order byte specifies the minor version (revision) number, in hexadecimal notation.

To distinguish between operating system platforms, use the high order bit and the low order byte, as shown in the following table:

Platform	High order bit	Low order byte (major version number)
Windows NT	zero	3 or 4
Windows 95		4
Win32s with Windows 3.1		3

For Windows NT and Win32s, the remaining bits in the high order word specify the build number.

For Windows 95 the remaining bits of the high order word are reserved.

Remarks
This function does not return the current version number of MS-DOS.

The following code fragment illustrates how to extract information from the GetVersion return value:

dwVersion = GetVersion();

// Get major and minor version numbers of Windows

dwWindowsMajorVersion = (DWORD)(LOBYTE(LOWORD(dwVersion)));

dwWindowsMinorVersion = (DWORD)(HIBYTE(LOWORD(dwVersion)));

// Get build numbers for Windows NT or Win32s

if (dwVersion < 0x80000000) // Windows NT

dwBuild = (DWORD)(HIWORD(dwVersion));

else if (dwWindowsMajorVersion < 4) // Win32s

dwBuild = (DWORD)(HIWORD(dwVersion) & ~0x8000);

else // Windows 95 -- No build numbers provided

dwBuild = 0;