0

Suppose a user doesn't know anything about his pc. Suppose he is sitting in front of a monitor, looking at the desktop. Suppose he can move the mouse, use the keyboard but he is not familiar with Apple icons, Windows icons, Linux penguins, etc.

Consider the fact that any version of an OS can vary a lot in terms of GUI (eg. menus can contain different items and change their positions over time). Consider the fact that he could be not connected to the Internet (he simply can't do it).

I want this person to tell me (I'm on phone) which OS and OS version he is using.

Is there any (possibly universal: Windows, Apple, Linux) way to guide the user and make him discover the informations I need?

Is the command prompt (terminal) the way to go?

Improve this question
0

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
1

Tell them to reboot by pressing the same button they used to turn the computer on.
Ask them what the screen looks like as they turn it off and again as they turn it back on.

I think it is safe to say they will have the default splash screens as they are in no way technically minded.

This is the quickest and easiest method of identifying the OS on a PC.

Improve this answer
1
  1. Have them press ctrl-alt-F1. In Windows, that will likely do nothing. In Linux, that will open a different virtual terminal.
  2. Have them press ctrl-alt-delete. In Linux that will reboot. In Windows that will take them to the security screen.
  3. Others have suggested reboot (or even hard shutdown and restart if they can't find the start menu or equivalent). That is sure-fire, but maybe not practical in every situation.

  4. Have them open a browser (yes, I know they don't have internet necessarily). In the URL bar, type

    javascript: alert(navigator["platform"]);

That will alert the platform. Actually, assuming they can open a browser, that is probably the simplest way.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    This is really very brilliant (browser idea). I would upvote many replies but I've not enough "reputation"
    – user542476
    Jan 9, 2016 at 8:36
-1

On Windows you can ask him/her to press the key combination WIN + BREAK.
Which opens a Window containing the most information you want to have.

On Linux you can ask him/her to open a terminal and type uname -a.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    Ok, but... he doesn't know if he is using Windows or Linux, that's the reason for my question
    – user542476
    Jan 8, 2016 at 8:39
  • Ok, but there's no way to easily guide someone with no experience to get this information. Which also have to be equal on any operating system. I think you should ask for the easiest ways to find your OS name and version.
    – André
    Jan 8, 2016 at 8:48
  • @André see my answer. As long as the OS has any browser that follows W3C DOM standards to any degree and is running javascript, they can find out what OS they are on. This would work in a mobile environment as well.
    – abalter
    Jan 9, 2016 at 0:21
-1

You can identify a desktop OS by its menu icon. Ask:

What does the little picture in the corner look like?

Menu bar icons on different operating systems

Improve this answer
1
  • Why the downvote? Should i add common Linux GUI icons?
    – Cees Timmerman
    Jan 11, 2016 at 11:02
-2

I would have said reboot.

But if that's not an option in some way, the effect of the 'start' button (mostly a flag, which i think for the kid's is easy to find) is pretty clear on many OS, what i know of.

Windows opens a box in left bottom corner,also views the username. Except windows 8, it opens a lot of tiles.

Ubuntu opens af search window in upper left corner, and the screen goes darker.

Mac don't have that button,

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.