[2008] WinXP and Vista

I didnt use Win Vista yet so I dont know if the coding for WinXP would work for Win Vista.
I have few questions:
1)Is there a code to find out what windows is the user using? (XP or Vista)
2)Is Registry the same? Can a program that work with WinXP work with Win Vista's Registry without any additional codes (something to get privialge maybe?)
3)what else should we care about if we're making a program to run on both WinXP and WinVista?

thanks for your help

heres an example for getting OS version.
i'm not sure how to get OS if vista, but it'll be similar to the other OS's

vb Code:

Public Class Form1
 
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        MsgBox(OS_Version)
    End Sub
 
    Public Function OS_Version() As String
 
        Dim osInfo As OperatingSystem
        Dim sAns As String = ""
 
        osInfo = System.Environment.OSVersion
 
        With osInfo
            Select Case .Platform
                Case 1 '.Platform.Win32Windows
                    Select Case (.Version.Minor)
                        Case 0
                            sAns = "Windows 95"
                        Case 10
                            If .Version.Revision.ToString() = "2222A" Then
                                sAns = "Windows 98 Second Edition"
                            Else
                                sAns = "Windows 98"
                            End If
                        Case 90
                            sAns = "Windows Me"
                    End Select
                Case 2 '.Platform.Win32NT
                    Select Case (.Version.Major)
                        Case 3
                            sAns = "Windows NT 3.51"
                        Case 4
                            sAns = "Windows NT 4.0"
                        Case 5
                            If .Version.Minor = 0 Then
                                sAns = "Windows 2000"
                            ElseIf .Version.Minor = 1 Then
                                sAns = "Windows XP"
                            ElseIf .Version.Minor = 2 Then
                                sAns = "Windows Server 2003"
                            Else 'Future version maybe update
                                'as needed
                                sAns = "Unknown Windows Version"
                            End If
                    End Select
 
            End Select
        End With
 
        Return sAns
 
    End Function
 
End Class

The posted code wont detect Vista. Here is the additional code with changes to work with Option Strict On

VB.NET Code:

Option Explicit On
Option Strict On
 
Public Class Form1
 
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        MessageBox.Show(OS_Version, "Operating System Version", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
    End Sub
 
    Public Function OS_Version() As String
 
        Dim osInfo As OperatingSystem
        Dim sAns As String = ""
 
        osInfo = System.Environment.OSVersion
        With osInfo
            Select Case DirectCast(.Platform, Integer)
                Case 1 '.Platform.Win32Windows
                    Select Case (.Version.Minor)
                        Case 0
                            sAns = "Windows 95"
                        Case 10
                            If .Version.Revision.ToString() = "2222A" Then
                                sAns = "Windows 98 Second Edition"
                            Else
                                sAns = "Windows 98"
                            End If
                        Case 90
                            sAns = "Windows Me"
                    End Select
                Case 2 '.Platform.Win32NT
                    Select Case (.Version.Major)
                        Case 3
                            sAns = "Windows NT 3.51"
                        Case 4
                            sAns = "Windows NT 4.0"
                        Case 5
                            If .Version.Minor = 0 Then
                                sAns = "Windows 2000"
                            ElseIf .Version.Minor = 1 Then
                                sAns = "Windows XP"
                            ElseIf .Version.Minor = 2 Then
                                sAns = "Windows Server 2003"
                            Else 'Future version maybe update
                                'as needed
                                sAns = "Unknown Windows Version"
                            End If
                        Case 6
                            sAns = "Windows Vista" & " " & .ServicePack
                            'Or you can return the actual version
                            'sAns = .VersionString & " " & .ServicePack
                    End Select
 
            End Select
        End With
        Return sAns
    End Function
 
End Class

Second, yes there are major changes with the registry. No longer can you simply access the registry. The User Account Control popup will control it if the user has Administrator permissions or can get an Administrator to fill in the logon prompt for elevating the process to Administrator so the process can read the registry.
Also, there are more protected directories. No longer can you store shared data in the Application.StartupDirectory.

Basically, anything that does work on XP will probably fail on Vista unless you code accordingly for the new security and directory changes..

I hade a similar question regarding the My Music folder in xp as vista now calls it just Music.
But as usual the legend helped me out.
This will find the default Music folder on xp or vista

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmcilhinney

Wouldn't

vb.net Code:

Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyMusic)

just return the correct folder path for the current OS?

---

Um is this the right thread you are replying to? Ths thread is about detecting the OS version. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RobDog888

Um is this the right thread you are replying to? Ths thread is about detecting the OS version. ;)

---

I think toecutter was answering peritos 3rd question :)

Oh well um its still called "Music" which isnt really that different from "My Music". Then the constant is the same value still so programmatically accessing it is done not by name but by constant value.