Which is installed on the computer, can occur in a variety of situations. For example, in most cases, in order to download, you must first specify your version of Windows.
If you are in a similar situation and do not know your version of Windows, then this article should help you. We offer you several ways to find out which Windows is on your computer.
Method number 1. Computer properties.
If there is an icon on your desktop (namely, an icon, not a shortcut), then you can find out which Windows is on your computer using it. To do this, right-click on this icon and select the "Properties" menu item.
This will open a window with information about your computer. Here will be indicated Windows version, as well as basic information about the computer (processor name, amount of RAM).
It also contains information about the bitness of your operating system. Almost at the very bottom of the window, opposite the "System Type" item.
It should be noted that if you do not have a computer icon on your desktop, then you can bring up this window using the key combination Windows + Pause/Break .
Method number 2. WinVer command.
The second way to find out which Windows is on the computer is the WinVer command. Press the key combination Windows + R and in the menu that appears, enter the command WinVer.
After that, a window with basic information about your operating system will appear on the screen. Here you can find out which Windows is on the computer, as well as its version and build number.
Method number 3. The systeminfo command.
Another one useful command, which will allow you to find out which Windows is on the computer, this is the systeminfo command. To use this command, type systeminfo and press enter. After that, basic information about your computer will appear on the screen. Among this information you will be able to find the version of your Windows.
You can also run this command in another way. To do this, press the key combination Windows + R and in the window that opens, enter cmd /k systeminfo.
In this case, the “Command Prompt” will be launched first, and only then the systeminfo command will be executed in it.
Method number 4. System Information window.
The last method we'll look at is the System Information window. In order to call this window, press the key combination Windows + R and in the window that appears, enter the command msinfo32.
After that, the "System Information" window will open in front of you, in which you can find out which Windows is on your computer. Finding this information will be easy, as it will immediately appear before your eyes.
If you have any difficulty running the msinfo32 command, you can open this window by searching the Start menu. To do this, simply enter "System Information" in the search and open the found program.
The design of Windows 10 contains elements of both 7 and 8 versions of the operating system. For example, the Start menu returned again, but in a slightly modified form. On the left side are recently open programs, and live tiles appeared on the right side instead of the list of applications.
Despite the fact that the developers listened to users and made the design more familiar - they changed the start screen, returned the Start menu, and so on, not everyone is satisfied with the existing system design. Therefore, there are several ways to make Windows 10 look like Windows 7.
Appearance
At the first login on the desktop, the user will see nothing but the trash. In version 7 of the system, in addition to it, there were shortcuts to the desktop, network environment and user folders on the screen.
IN new version systems have changed themes and icons. This setting is the easiest to change. The Internet is full of themes, among which there is Aero 7 - the standard design of the seven. It changes in the same place as the shortcuts - in the "Personalization" section.
Taskbar settings
In Windows 10, the taskbar contains some elements that were not in version 7 - the search bar and the task view. These functions are more convenient for tablets than for the desktop version, and therefore they can be hidden.
The search bar occupies a significant place on the panel. To save space, and to make the Windows 10 desktop look more like a seven, you can do two things: either completely remove the search bar, or make it a small icon that will be pinned to the taskbar.
For the first option, you need to right-click on the panel, click on "Search" and check the box next to "Hidden". If necessary, it can be called up with the Win button. To leave the search in the panel as an icon, instead of Hidden, select Show Search Icon.
The task view button shows all open processes and allows you to create a virtual desktop. You can remove it by right-clicking on the taskbar and unchecking the box next to "Show task view button". You can see open programs and windows using the standard Alt+Win command.
The Return of the Standard Start Menu
You can make the Start menu like Windows 7 either using the system tools or using third party programs. You can return the Start menu using the system tools or using additional utilities. In the first case, you just need to remove all unnecessary tiles from the right side of the Start.
Open Start and right-click on the icons in sequence, selecting "Unpin from Start Screen". The tiles will disappear and the menu will become more similar to version 7 of the operating system. You can also resize the menu so that empty space from tiles doesn't take up much space.
For quick access to programs, you can pin them to the left side. Right-click on any empty space in the menu and select "Properties". In the window that appears, go to the "Start Menu" and select "Settings". Next, another window will appear with a list of applications that can be placed in the menu. It can be Control Panel, Documents, and so on.
If this method is not suitable and you want the standard Start menu, then only special programs. For example, you can use Classic Shell is the most popular utility.
Download any of the above programs, run setup file and follow the instructions of the program. Many of them have flexible Start settings. 
Windows 10 provides more ways to return to familiar look than Windows 8. Some innovations may appeal to users, and they decide to leave everything as it is, some come to completely redo the look.
Video
The other day at the Build conference, Microsoft representatives showed the latest version of Windows 8, released Windows distribution 8 Developer Preview and gave away 5,000 tablets pre-installed with the next generation OS. This gave interested people a chance to look ahead a bit and see what Windows 8 would look like. But since free tablet we didn’t get it from Microsoft, we will test Windows 8 on a virtual machine running 64-bit Winodws 7.
Testing platform: MB: M2N68, CPU: AMD Phenom 8450 Triple-Core 2.1-GHz, RAM: 4096 MB, VIDEO: nVidia GeForce 9800 GSO, SSD: SATA-3 120Gb OCZ Agility 3, Index Windows performance: 6.2 (minimum, on the CPU line). Software: Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit 6.1.7601, Service Pack 1, VMware Workstation 8.0.
Use of the Windows 8 Developer Preview has been recommended for informational purposes only. To run the system on the current platform (Windows 7), we used a virtual VMware machine workstation. After starting the system, we turned on full screen mode. Time Windows startup 8 on the virtual platform took 32 seconds. It doesn’t match the promised 3 seconds, but it’s too early to judge this, so we’ll omit the difference by 10 times and go directly to the interface. After the long-awaited loading of the system, a screen appears in front of us with a landscape that vaguely resembles the cover of the famous book by Bill Gates "The Road to the Future", a digital clock and an icon network settings.
Windows 8 user welcome window
Next, a nice green Windows login window appears, where a pre-prepared user asks us to enter his password. Naturally, there is a form of failure and system shutdown/reboot, as well as special abilities for visually impaired users. All items of this menu for the same purpose are pronounced by voice. Here you can also call on-screen keyboard. It is likely that on tablet computer it will appear automatically. After successfully logging into Windows 8, we are presented with a new Metro interface.
Metro interface in Windows 8
Outwardly, UI Metro strongly resembles interface 7 and differs from it, in addition to visual changes, increased button functionality is noted. In general, the Metro interface looks more dynamic than on mobile devices. Comparison operating systems gives an overview of both interfaces. All icons can be dragged and sorted. Unlike, again, from iOS, Metro interface icons have two types: in the form of a square and in the form of a rectangle. In this regard, the user has more opportunities to realize a flight of fancy and express his own taste. After launching any application, the icon changes and begins to display some information about a particular application. So, for example, the icon with the game starts to show the maximum score scored by you, the notepad shows the number of entries in it, and the weather icon, after adjustment, regularly updates the weather information.
The weather utility, by the way, in Metro is made quite original, but, as you might expect, damp. So, a video loop is used as a background on the theme of nature, which enlivens the picture and makes the waves beat against the shore, and the fog floats over the stones. Moscow was found in the database without problems, but we failed to switch the program to the Celsius scale, so the weather utility showed 52 degrees Fahrenheit. In general, it is convenient, beautiful and, most importantly, informative. However, the video slowed down a little, but for now let's write it off for system virtualization and move on.
Weather program interface in Windows 8
Embedded applications in new Windows 8 is enough to start comfortable work on the tablet. There are built-in Facebook and Twitter clients, RSS reader, browser Internet Explorer, stock prices, touch-screen drawing, several arcade toys, an alarm clock, an RDP client and much more, there is even a built-in piano. The Windows Store is not available on this version of Windows.
Cooper game on Windows 8.
The drawing application in Windows 8 is PaintPlay.
What immediately catches the eye is that the interface is designed primarily for touch and voice control. In the first minutes of using Metro, you want to run your fingers across the monitor, but common sense still prevails. Not all applications work fully. The new Internet Explorer looks extremely minimalistic, using black by default, which is very unlike Microsoft. However, the official release is still far away, although, perhaps, IE 10 will be just like that and will not change outwardly. There is no flash player for IE 10, so we have not been able to thoroughly test the functionality of the browser.
So, apparently, Internet Explorer 10 will look externally.
At first glance, it may seem that all the novelty of the operating system lies in this green Metro interface, and a reasonable question arises: "What does Windows have to do with it?". This is where the fun begins. The Metro bar has several icons that lead not to applications, but to the system itself. Outwardly, apart from Metro, Windows 8 is very similar to its predecessor - Windows 7. But, as the developer claims, the new operating system has a completely rewritten kernel, but the Aero interface that has already become familiar has its place in Windows 8. It has been stated more than once that the new Windows will be without the windows that everyone is so used to. This is wrong. All windows remained and fully work in Windows 8 with minor changes in the interface. Also, the Taskbar and the Start button have not gone away. Unless the latter now carries a new function: it calls the same main screen Metro and is analogous to the "Home" button on mobile devices Apple.
As seen in the image, the desktop interface Windows desktop 8 has not undergone major changes. Recall that the "Start" menu now calls the Metro interface, therefore, the new version of Windows will not have the familiar utilities that you have been used to since version 3.11 ... This means the presence of the "Standard" and "Utilities" packages. Most likely, they will appear in the Metro interface closer to the release of the first beta version in some original form. It is possible that they will not be at all, but an alternative replacement from third-party developers will be offered. Of the usual things in the new Windows 8, Explorer remained, which was outwardly. The Control Panel with system settings has also been completely preserved.
System properties and configuration virtual system in Windows 8.
This concludes our first acquaintance with Windows interface 8, you can download the distribution kit for your own experiments with the new OS. It is too early to draw conclusions, because in order to adequately evaluate the new OS, you need to wait for at least the first beta version, but the first impressions of Windows 8 are purely positive.
Greetings to everyone who does not know the answer to the simplest question - how to find out what kind of Windows is on the computer ... it looks like a simple question, but at work it quite often confuses people, and you definitely need to find out this moment. Actually, after these awkward situations, I decided to quickly dash off a note with the most simple ways find out the version of the operating system that is currently in use.
I will not use such moments as - and what icon is spinning on your boot or what does the start menu look like? Yes, you can understand by the interface which operating system you are using, but such leading questions can confuse you even more. (and if various system modifications and third-party themes were used, then put out the lights altogether)
Working on a computer and not knowing the version of Windows installed is not exactly a crime, but it can give you a couple of unpleasant moments. For example, you forcibly installed drivers that were not designed for your version of the system and get, sign - ... Any application has system requirements and most new games may not work on Windows 7, maybe you just need and everything will work for you.
I have prepared for you several ways to find out which version of Windows is installed on your computer. (those who read me know that I like to describe in as much detail as possible any aspect of using a computer)
Find out the version of Windows installed on the computer through the system properties
Probably the easiest way to answer our question is to go to the properties of the computer, for this you must have the icon "This computer" or similar (note that it is an icon, not a shortcut). Right click on it and select "Properties"...
In the upper part of the "System" window that opens, we see which Windows is installed on our computer and its edition (in my case it's Windows 10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB), and a little lower we can find the bit depth (system type), but this is a topic for a whole separate note.
As you can see, everything is elementary, but some users display the “My Computer” shortcut on the desktop, there will be the properties of the shortcut, and not your system. For such cases, there are alternatives.
Determine which Windows is installed through the winver command
Let's move on to the next way to find out which Windows is on the computer. In this case, the winver command will help us, which must be entered into the Run application window. You can open this window by pressing the Win + R keys on your keyboard.
The "Windows: Details" window will open, where you can find out which Windows is installed on the computer (similarly, the assembly of your operating system is displayed here, which is very helpful when searching for errors on the Internet)
In my opinion this method gives more complete information about the version of Windows installed on a computer or laptop ... but not all possible - let's move on to more interesting methods.
Determine Windows using the systeminfo command
Probably, this method can be called the most comprehensive ... this option will not only allow you to find out what Windows is on your computer, but also tell you about the assembly, installation date and other useful things. To use the systeminfo command, we need to open the command Windows line (for those who do not know how to do this, there is a great note "" - there you will surely find an option that you like).
After you have opened command line, enter the command there systeminfo and wait for the collection of information about your computer to finish. The second line in the report will indicate the version Windows installed on the computer.
Or you can get confused and make a sort of sandwich of commands for the "Run" window. Enter command cmd /k systeminfo and click OK. In this variant, cmd launches the Windows command line, the /k key says that you need to execute the command when cmd startup, and systeminfo is the same command that will show the information we are interested in.
For any user, these three ways to find out which Windows is on the computer are enough, but as a bonus, I will tell you one more option.
Bonus. Find out your version of Windows through "System Information"
Well, the last method for today, everything is as usual, only the command is different - msinfo32. It is entered, as you already understood, into the "Run" command window.
The "System Information" window will open, where you can find out which Windows is on the computer (in the "OS Name" line)
I did not focus on this option, since it almost completely repeats the above - for general development it is simply useful to know them all.
Everything you need to know about which Windows is installed on your computer
As you can see, it will not be difficult to find out which Windows is on the computer, but this is if the system starts up and works. I did not use in this note the opportunity to find out the version of the killed system (for example, when you need to start recovery, but you don't know the version) since for an unprepared user this is not necessary, and the pros already know how to do it. I'm not talking about such indirect signs as a folder on the C:\ drive - "Document and Settings" is found only in Windows XP, such differences can be found in more than a dozen. Agree that entering a command and finding out the answer to your question is much easier than looking for signs of a particular operating system from Microsoft.
P.S. If the first way to find out which Windows is on your computer cannot be applied because you have a shortcut instead of an icon, this window can be opened with the Win + Pause / Break combination. Good mood to you all…
11.01.2015
In the first minutes of acquaintance with Windows 10, I felt real envy. The system looks much better than the previous version, and I wanted to install it on my PC right now.
Mark Hachman. Hands-on with Windows 10: Looks great at first blush. PC World, November 2014.
Initial experience Windows usage 8 caused me bewilderment and disappointment. And in the first minutes of acquaintance with Windows 10, I felt real envy. The system looks much better than the previous version, and I wanted to install it on my PC right now.
In the face of Windows 10, a new look will take on both Windows itself and Windows phone. Microsoft Executive Vice President Terry Myerson, who oversees the company's operating systems division, called the new OS "the most open, shared project that has ever been implemented." Indeed, here we can talk about a common project. Developers are constantly supporting feedback with users, and the system I briefly tested may not be what users will get this year.
At Microsoft it Current state They don’t even call it an alpha version, but a “build”. And given that the release of Windows 10 is scheduled for the middle of this year, many system features can still be changed, removed or added.
Revamped Start Menu: Transparent and Intuitive
To be honest, I didn't really like the new Start menu. From an aesthetic point of view, it looks like a surgical stitching together of pieces cut off from Windows 7 and Windows 8. Such a trip to the past does not seem very elegant, but it can not be denied usefulness. On the left is a list of frequently used applications, links to PC settings, as well as folders with documents and images. At the bottom we see a shortcut to go to the Applications view.
The live tiles on the right reproduce the functionality of the initial Windows screen 8. Tiles with resizable allow you to find out at any time, for example, how many unread letters you have. Live Tiles are more like notifications than app shortcuts, although they can be used as such. In the Microsoft demo, a huge calendar tile lists all scheduled events, which seems fitting.
If you want to resize the Start Menu itself, there's nothing stopping you from doing so.
As evidenced by the leaked videos, if desired, the user can also go to the Windows 8 Start screen. However, attention is not focused on this feature, and therefore I realized that most people still prefer the Desktop view.
The New World of Windows: Task View, Virtual Desktops, and +
One Microsoft executive I spoke with called the new Task view "poor man's multi-monitor configuration." And I understand why.
In fact, all Windows users are accustomed to accessing the key combination + for fast switching between applications. A great way to move from one task to another. This feature is also supported in Windows 10.
But now the Task View button has appeared on the screen. Look down at the panel Windows tasks 10, and third from the left, you will see a button that, when clicked, displays an array of virtual desktops on the screen.
What is a virtual desktop? You can think of it as a virtual display. If you have multiple monitors connected to your computer, chances are you already have different apps on different screens: a browser window on one display, Outlook on another, and a chat app on your laptop screen. IN Windows environment 10 Microsoft company allows you to snap more than one application to the screen. So if you want, you can populate the second monitor with an Outlook panel and a PowerPoint file that a colleague emailed you.
If there is only one monitor, the Task View button (or the keyboard shortcut + , which seems to me more convenient) will switch between the Desktops that are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Thus, from a "project" screen with PowerPoint, a browser window and OneNote, you can instantly switch to a completely different virtual desktop or workspace, where, say, Facebook and Xbox Music will be presented. The applications themselves are displayed only on the Desktops, and you can see which of the Desktops the application you are interested in is located on only by switching to it.
The next function will probably not make it into the final version. On the previous taskbar Windows versions you can see several open windows browsers located next to each other. In a Windows 10 environment, such an application will be underlined with a horizontal line, indicating that it is located on the virtual desktop.
Currently, virtual desktops are mainly for convenience, but they can also perform security functions if the user has different access rights to different desktops. Whether desktops will be completely isolated from each other, like in a sandbox, we don't know yet.
The new Task View button displays an array of "virtual desktops".
Snap Assist and Window Applications
What about the Snap feature that fills half the screen in Windows 8? IN new system it has also been improved. Dimensions Windows applications 10 in the window can change dynamically. It remains only to see how well it all looks in practice.
In the Windows 8 environment, you can snap applications to one side of the screen by pressing the left or right arrow keys while holding windows keys- the application in this case is attached to the left or right side display, respectively, taking up half the screen. Windows 10 lets you display up to four apps on your screen to help you be more productive.
After binding Windows programs 10 offers to place another, similar application next to it. This feature saves you from having to wade through menus when setting up a virtual desktop. Time will tell whether such a proposal will justify itself, but so far the start seems to be quite good.
You can see that a number of features - Snap Assist, applications in windows, virtual desktops - organically complement each other. It would be interesting to experiment with them and see what new things they bring to my daily activities.
Search Improvement
The Windows 10 taskbar has a search button that brings one of the main functions of the Windows 8 Start screen to the desktop environment. Personally, I no longer need to click on the application icons on the home screen and use bookmarks when searching the Internet. Returning to recently used applications and documents is much faster now.
Everything about Windows 10 is built around this. Microsoft announced that the search function and File Explorer now display recently opened files and frequently visited folders, making it possible to access necessary files much easier and faster.
The Windows 10 demo offered by Microsoft is structured to highlight the best features of the new OS first. And now that the developers have added millions of interested users, any shortcoming will be revealed very quickly. It is encouraging that Microsoft welcomes criticism by offering "developer partners" (i.e., Windows users) more actively share their opinions.
Do you love or hate the new system? Microsoft wants to know. But I still think you'll enjoy Windows 10.
