C# Signatures:

// This must be used if OSVERSIONINFO is defined as a struct or Class - The previous [In,Out] parameter defined for
// a class could cause buffer overrun errors.
[ DllImport( "kernel32" )]
static extern bool GetVersionEx( ref OSVERSIONINFO osvi );  

VB.Net Signatures:

' This must be used if OSVERSIONINFO is defined as a struct

<DllImport("kernel32")> _
Private Shared Function GetVersionEx(ByRef osvi As OSVERSIONINFO) As Boolean
End Function

' This must be used if OSVERSIONINFO is defined as a class
<DllImport("kernel32")> _
Private Shared Function GetVersionEx(<[In](), Out()> ByVal osvi As OSVERSIONINFO) As Boolean
End Function

C# Signature:

[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern uint GetVersion();

User-Defined Types:

OSVERSIONINFO

Notes:

None.

Tips & Tricks:

If you forget to set the OSVersionInfoSize field of the OSVERSIONINFO struct, the function will return false. GetLastError() will return:

Notes:

Retrieves the version number of the current operating system

127

ERROR_PROC_NOT_FOUND

"The specified procedure could not be found."

Tips & Tricks:

Please add some!

Sample Code:

Using the OSVERSIONINFO class and corresponding signature:

Console.WriteLine( "\nPassing OSVERSIONINFO as class" );

using System;

using System.Text;

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

OSVERSIONINFO osvi = new OSVERSIONINFO();
osvi.OSVersionInfoSize = Marshal.SizeOf( osvi );

namespace testt

{

    class Program
    {
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        StringBuilder str = new StringBuilder(100);
        uint dwWersion = WinAPI.GetVersion();

GetVersionEx( osvi );

Console.WriteLine( "Class size:    {0}", osvi.OSVersionInfoSize );

Using the OSVERSIONINFO struct and corresponding signature:

        str.Append(WinAPI.LoByte((ushort)WinAPI.LoWord(dwWersion)));
        str.Append(".");
        str.Append(WinAPI.HiByte((ushort)WinAPI.LoWord(dwWersion)));
        if (dwWersion < 0x80000000)
        {
        str.Append("." + WinAPI.HiWord(dwWersion).ToString());
        }
        Console.WriteLine("OS Version is " + str.ToString());
    }
    }

Console.WriteLine( "\nPassing OSVERSIONINFO as struct" );
    static class WinAPI
    {
    public static uint LoWord(uint dwValue)
    {
        return dwValue & 0xFFFF;
    }

OSVERSIONINFO osvi2 = new OSVERSIONINFO();
osvi2.OSVersionInfoSize = Marshal.SizeOf(ref typeof(OSVERSIONINFO) );
    public static uint HiWord(uint dwValue)
    {
        return (dwValue >> 16) & 0xFFFF;
    }

GetVersionEx( ref osvi2 );
    public static ushort LoByte(ushort wValue)
    {
        return (ushort)(wValue & 0xFF);
    }

Console.WriteLine( "Struct size:   {0}", osvi2.OSVersionInfoSize );

Alternative Managed API:

System.Environment.OSVersion property

    public static ushort HiByte(ushort wValue)
    {
        return (ushort)((wValue >> 8) & 0xFF);
    }

    Friend Function IsWinVista() As Boolean
    Dim osInfo As System.OperatingSystem = System.Environment.OSVersion
    Return (osInfo.Platform = PlatformID.Win32NT AndAlso osInfo.Version.Major = 6)
    End Function
    [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
    public static extern uint GetVersion();
    }

}

    Friend Function IsWinXP() As Boolean
    Dim osInfo As System.OperatingSystem = System.Environment.OSVersion
    Return (osInfo.Platform = PlatformID.Win32NT AndAlso osInfo.Version.Major = 5 AndAlso osInfo.Version.Minor >= 1)
    End Function

Alternative Managed API:

GetVersionEx(), Operating System Version(), VerifyVersionInfo()

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