Before continuing with the below answer if you know your computer
has Microsoft Windows and just wish to determine the version of
Microsoft Windows you are using see our Windows
version page for additional information and help. If you are not
sure if you are running Windows or you believe you are running a
different operating system continue reading.
The majority of all IBM compatible (PC) users have Microsoft
Windows installed on their computer. A good method of determining if
you are running Microsoft Windows 95 or later is to look for the
"Start Button" in the
corner of your screen. If you see this button you are running
Microsoft Windows. To determine which version of Windows you are
using see our Windows version page.
If you do not see a Start button it is likely you are running a
different operating system. Below are some different visual
indications to determine what operating system you are using. If you
do not have any graphics or a GUI
(only text) skip to the next section.
- A Microsoft Windows logo or Microsoft Windows flag but no
start button often indicates an earlier version of Microsoft
Windows such as Microsoft Windows 3.11.
- A red hat in the corner of the screen - Computer is running
Red Hat linux.
- A green / blue "L" in the corner of the screen -
Computer is running Lindows / Linspire.
- A gray / black foot print in the corner of the screen you
have GNOME running on a
Linux or Unix variant.
- A purple background with any visual indication of
"Sun" or "Solaris" is an indication of the
Sun Solaris
operating system being used with X.
If you only have text on the computer or only a console to work
with often you can determine what operating system you are using
by using any of the below commands. Note: On some systems the
command to view what operating system and/or its version will be
disabled for security reasons and not all operating systems will
support all of the below commands.
Finally, if you are in front of the computer you can usually
determine what operating system is being run on the computer by
rebooting the computer.
Note to Linux / Unix users: Often users running a Linux
/ Unix variant will have a Linux variant with any number of Graphic
User Interfaces, for example, you could be running Red Hat Linux
using GNOME as the GUI. It is often better to use the console
to determine which variant of Linux / Unix you are using. The uname
command will work with almost all variants of Linux and Unix.
If the uname command works and you need version information type:
uname -a
Additional information about the Linux version can also be found
by using the below commands if the uname command is not available.
cat /etc/issue
