Am I running Windows 8 or 8.1?

Question

Is there a sure way to check whether I am running Windows 8 or 8.1?

When I right-click on Computer and select "Properties", I see "Windows 8 Pro" in the "Windows edition" section - but I don't know if Microsoft shows "8" regardless...

Answer 1

Use a Powershell or a batch command and compare your output

• Powershell: [System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version
• Command line> ver

Operating system                     Version number
Windows 10 Insider Preview           10.0
Windows Server Technical Preview     10.0
Windows 8.1                           6.3
Windows Server 2012 R2                6.3
Windows 8                             6.2
Windows Server 2012                   6.2
Windows 7                             6.1 
Windows Server 2008 R2                6.1
Windows Server 2008                   6.0
Windows Vista                         6.0
Windows Server 2003 R2                5.2
Windows Server 2003                   5.2
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition             5.2
Windows XP                            5.1
Windows 2000                          5.0

Source

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms724832%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10#Technical_Preview

Answer 2

To be honest, probably the easiest way to check is whether you have a start button on the desktop.

Unless of course you're using something like classic shell...

Answer 3

It would say Windows 8.1 Pro if you're using Windows 8.1.

However, if you really want to verify you can follow this from MS:

Which Windows operating system am I running?

This tool will simply tell you, and provide you additional ways to get more info, such as:

Check for operating system info in Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
2. Tap or click PC and devices, and then tap or click PC info.
3. Look under Windows for the version and edition of Windows that your PC is running.

Check for operating system info in Windows 8 or Windows RT

1. On the Start screen, type Computer, press and hold or right-click Computer, and then tap or click Properties.
2. Look under Windows edition for the version and edition of Windows that your PC is running.

For me it shows this:

FYI, I simply Googled "windows check which version", that was the first result. Not really sure why it was necessary to ask here.

Answer 4

Simply you can check if you have a start button on taskbar with a Windows Logo. If there is a startbutton on taskbar, that means you are using Windows 8.1 and if there isn't any startbutton, you are using Windows 8.

Also you can check your OS by looking into winver.exe. Press Win+R and type winver.exe and then look into second line below Windows logo. If there is a:

Version 6.3 (Build xxxx) = Windows 8.1
Version 6.2 (Build xxxx) = Windows 8

Also...

Version 6.1 (Build xxxx) = Windows 7
Version 6.0 (Build xxxx) = Windows Vista
Version 5.1 (Build xxxx) = Windows XP
Version 5.0 (Build xxxx: Service Pack x) = Windows 2000
Windows Millennium Edition = Windows ME
Windows 98 = Windows 98 (Same)
Windows 95 = Windows 95 (Same again)
Version 4.0 & 4.5 (Build xxxx: Service Pack x) = Windows NT 4.0
Version 3.0 & 3.10 & 3.11 (Build xxxx) = Windows 3.0 & Windows 3.1