Get-OSInfo is a PowerShell function that retrieves key details about the Windows OS, including Release ID, Display Version, Name, Type (Workstation/Server), Numeric Version, Edition ID, Version (an object that includes major, minor, and build numbers), and Architecture (OS architecture, not processor architecture).

README.md

Get-OSInfo

Retrieves information about the operating system version and architecture.

Description

The Get-OSInfo function is a PowerShell script that queries both the Windows registry and the Win32_OperatingSystem class to gather comprehensive information about the operating system.

The function returns the following:

Property	Description	Example Output
Release ID	The release ID of the operating system	2004
Display Version	The display version of the operating system	20H2
Name	The product name of the operating system	Windows 10 Pro
Type	Workstation or Server	Workstation
Numeric Version	The numeric version of the operating system	10
Edition ID	The edition ID of the operating system	Professional
Version	Object including major, minor, and build numbers	10.0.19042.0
Architecture	OS architecture (not processor architecture)	x64

Examples

Example 1

Get-OSInfo

This example retrieves the OS version details of the current system and returns an object with properties as mentioned above.

Output from Windows 10 Pro

ReleaseId       : 2004
DisplayVersion  : 20H2
Name            : Windows 10 Pro
Type            : Workstation
NumericVersion  : 10
EditionId       : Professional
Version         : 10.0.19042.0
Architecture    : x64

Output from Server 2022 Datacenter

ReleaseId       : 2009
DisplayVersion  : 21H2
Name            : Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Datacenter
Type            : Server
NumericVersion  : 2022
EditionId       : Datacenter
Version         : 10.0.20348.0
Architecture    : x64

Example 2

(Get-OSInfo).Version.Major

This example retrieves the major version number of the operating system. The Get-OSInfo function returns an object with a Version property, which itself is an object containing Major, Minor, and Build properties. You can access these sub-properties using dot notation.

Output

10

Example 3

$osDetails = Get-OSInfo
Write-Output "OS Name: $($osDetails.Name)"
Write-Output "OS Type: $($osDetails.Type)"
Write-Output "OS Architecture: $($osDetails.Architecture)"

This example stores the result of Get-OSInfo in a variable and then accesses various properties to print details about the operating system.

Output

Name: Windows 10 Pro
Type: Workstation
Architecture: x64

Notes

• The function uses both registry values and CIM instances to gather information.
• It includes error handling to catch any issues that may arise during execution.
• The architecture details are specifically related to the OS, not the processor, and are represented as x32, x64, arm, or arm64.

Get-OSInfo.ps1

function Get-OSInfo {
    <#
        .SYNOPSIS
        Retrieves detailed information about the operating system version and architecture.

        .DESCRIPTION
        This function queries both the Windows registry and the Win32_OperatingSystem class to gather comprehensive information about the operating system. It returns details such as the release ID, display version, name, type (Workstation/Server), numeric version, edition ID, version (object that includes major, minor, and build numbers), and architecture (OS architecture, not processor architecture).

        .EXAMPLE
        Get-OSInfo

        This example retrieves the OS version details of the current system and returns an object with properties like ReleaseId, DisplayVersion, Name, Type, NumericVersion, EditionId, Version, and Architecture.

        .EXAMPLE
        (Get-OSInfo).Version.Major

        This example retrieves the major version number of the operating system. The Get-OSInfo function returns an object with a Version property, which itself is an object containing Major, Minor, and Build properties. You can access these sub-properties using dot notation.

        .EXAMPLE
        $osDetails = Get-OSInfo
        Write-Output "OS Name: $($osDetails.Name)"
        Write-Output "OS Type: $($osDetails.Type)"
        Write-Output "OS Architecture: $($osDetails.Architecture)"

        This example stores the result of Get-OSInfo in a variable and then accesses various properties to print details about the operating system.
    #>
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param ()

    try {
        # Get registry values
        $registryValues = Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion"
        $releaseIdValue = $registryValues.ReleaseId
        $displayVersionValue = $registryValues.DisplayVersion
        $nameValue = $registryValues.ProductName
        $editionIdValue = $registryValues.EditionId

        # Strip out "Server" from the $editionIdValue if it exists
        $editionIdValue = $editionIdValue -replace "Server", ""

        # Get OS details using Get-CimInstance because the registry key for Name is not always correct with Windows 11
        $osDetails = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem
        $nameValue = $osDetails.Caption

        # Get architecture details of the OS (not the processor)
        $architecture = $osDetails.OSArchitecture

        # Normalize architecture
        if ($architecture -match "(?i)32") {
            $architecture = "x32"
        } elseif ($architecture -match "(?i)64" -and $architecture -match "(?i)ARM") {
            $architecture = "ARM64"
        } elseif ($architecture -match "(?i)64") {
            $architecture = "x64"
        } else {
            $architecture = "Unknown"
        }

        # Get OS version details (as version object)
        $versionValue = [System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version

        # Determine product type
        # Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/microsoft.powershell.commands.producttype?view=powershellsdk-1.1.0
        if ($osDetails.ProductType -eq 1) {
            $typeValue = "Workstation"
        } elseif ($osDetails.ProductType -eq 2 -or $osDetails.ProductType -eq 3) {
            $typeValue = "Server"
        } else {
            $typeValue = "Unknown"
        }

        # Extract numerical value from Name
        $numericVersion = ($nameValue -replace "[^\d]").Trim()

        # Create and return custom object with the required properties
        $result = [PSCustomObject]@{
            ReleaseId      = $releaseIdValue
            DisplayVersion = $displayVersionValue
            Name           = $nameValue
            Type           = $typeValue
            NumericVersion = $numericVersion
            EditionId      = $editionIdValue
            Version        = $versionValue
            Architecture   = $architecture
        }

        return $result
    } catch {
        Write-Error "Unable to get OS version details.`nError: $_"
        exit 1
    }
}

This does not display correctly if you run it from within Sandbox on Windows 11.

Hey @gabriel-vanca, I am using Windows 11 23H2. I ran Windows Sandbox, pasted the Get-OSInfo function into PowerShell, then ran the function. It was able to work for me. Can you please share the output/screenshot of what you're seeing on your end?

My bad. I was looking at $registryValues.ProductName, which shows Sandbox as being "Windows 10 Enterprise" rather than 11. $osDetails.Caption seems to be getting the name right though.

Gotcha. I could probably add in a few additional checks to return Sandbox, but I think it may be based off of the Enterprise build which is why it detscts as such.

What are the possible outputs for arm, arm64?

I haven't tested this because I don't have an arm/arm64 device, but I imagine the outputs would be "arm" or "arm64".

(Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem).OSArchitecture

In the lines containing the "if" statement related to $architecture, these will adjust 64-bit to 64 and 32-bit to 32. Otherwise, the value of $architecture will stay unchanged from its initial output from the command above.

thx thx!

Yes i can confirm. the info on display is a little bit wrong

@OldHarmony That's what I needed, thanks! Can you try using the updated function and show the output?

Yes and here is the output from your new version:

Great, thanks for testing.