Environment.OSVersion returns "Windows NT 10.0.22458.0" on my Windows 11 22458.1000

[mingtong]

I am using .NET Framework 4.0.
Will the API return correct OS Version after Windows 11 released?
Sorry, I mean, what OS Version will be returned after Windows 11 released?

[joeloff]

.NET 4 just like .NET only returns what we get from the OS. There are likely other APIs you can directly call using p/invoke. But I'll throw this over to runtime for better guidance. The repos here only deal with .NET Core and .NET 5, not .NET Framework

[dotnet-issue-labeler]

I couldn't figure out the best area label to add to this issue. If you have write-permissions please help me learn by adding exactly one area label.

[mingtong]

.NET 4 just like .NET only returns what we get from the OS. There are likely other APIs you can directly call using p/invoke. But I'll throw this over to runtime for better guidance. The repos here only deal with .NET Core and .NET 5, not .NET Framework

Thanks for your reply.
I just tried .NET 6, it still returns the same.

[ghost]

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Issue Details

---

I am using .NET Framework 4.0.
Will the API return correct OS Version after Windows 11 released?
Sorry, I mean, what OS Version will be returned after Windows 11 released?

Author:	mingtong
Assignees:	-
Labels:	area-System.Runtime, untriaged
Milestone:	-

[jeffschwMSFT]

@danmoseley

[tannergooding]

This is simply the information reported by the OS.

Windows 11 is still 10.0.*.0 in the latest beta and (last I checked) internal preview builds:

You can confirm this by opening System Information.

[danmoseley]

This is correct -- we just pass the Windows version through.

Note that macOS is a bit more complicated as it depends on what SDK we built with, and we decided not to fake it (which means it can vary by .NET version)
#58575
#41012

cc @wfurt can confirm I stated this correctly.

[danmoseley]

@mingtong for what purpose do you need to read the OS version? In theory logging/diagnostics is one of the few valid purposes. Generally it's not recommended to use the OS version to decide whether a feature is supported, because it might get supported later.

[mingtong]

@mingtong for what purpose do you need to read the OS version? In theory logging/diagnostics is one of the few valid purposes. Generally it's not recommended to use the OS version to decide whether a feature is supported, because it might get supported later.

I pass the OS version to server, and server decide which data will be returned.

My App wants to support Windows 11 in advance, so I want to have it testable as early as possible, then once 11 be released, we can announce we support the latest Windows.

You said it's not recommended, then what is the best practice to do it?

[danmoseley]

@mingtong I see. Could you share why the server needs to know the OS version of the client? What is the data and how does it change? If you lied and told the server you were running on a Windows 10 client, would it be a problem?

[wfurt]

More discussion specific to Win11 is also here: #58588
#59135 makes detections based on build number. Since Windows 11 is really just newer Windows 10, is there specific functionality you are trying to detect @mingtong?

[mingtong]

@mingtong I see. Could you share why the server needs to know the OS version of the client? What is the data and how does it change? If you lied and told the server you were running on a Windows 10 client, would it be a problem?

Some data is not expected to be shown on target OS.
If Windows 11 always return a version as Win 10, then it won't be a problem.
If Windows 11 returns a version as Win 11, then current code needs to be refactored.

[danmoseley]

@mingtong but why is the version relevant -- why does the code need to be refactored? for what purpose is the version used?

If for example, you're checking whether a feature is supported, often there are more reliable ways to do this than checking a version number. Eg., GetProcAddress.

[ghost]

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