Windows 11 build ver is still 10.0.22000.194

I have installed the official version (not preview) after 5.10.2021 release and the build number is still 10.0.22000.194. We need to start dividing Win10 vs. Win11 devices in Intune and Configuration Manager. How we should do that, because probably Windows 10 build will also grow in a future and to what then?

Anoop C Nair MVP Enterprise Mobility 21 Reputation points MVP

2022-03-02T17:53:31.4+00:00

@Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko - I did receive a similar comment on one of the posts on Windows 10 versions.

My point of view/hypothesis was this. I could be totally wrong :-D

Why should it be changed? The major version is still the same as Windows 11 and most of the previous versions of Windows because it's all built on the same base core OS ... Microsoft is adding new or additional code on top of the previous versions to make a new version. Hence the major version is not changed.

I don't think it will ever change until they reach some other limitation. Or Microsoft will need to build a new OS ground up.
Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko 11,711 Reputation points

2022-03-08T09:13:55.54+00:00

@Anoop C Nair MVP Enterprise Mobility ok thanks, so basically based on os ver we can understand, that Windows 11 is based on Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 was build on Windows 7, right?
Jason Sandys 31,151 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-03-08T14:25:35.03+00:00

All Windows versions in current use were built on top of each other so making this statement has no meaning or value. You're attempting to find meaning in something that has zero impact. As long as you know that anything greater than 10.0.22000 is Win 11, why does it matter? This is a design choice we made no different than any design choice we've made.
Schmitt 5 Reputation points

2023-08-13T12:51:05.8633333+00:00

Especially for more novice users, the numbering convention matters because it's confusing to see an OsOperatingSystemSKU say 10... but system settings "about" info to say Windows 11. A new owner/novice could interpret that as having purchased from a dishonest vendor.

Accepted answer

Lu Dai-MSFT 28,346 Reputation points

2021-10-12T07:33:09.09+00:00

@Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko Thanks for posting in our Q&A.

For this issue, I have consulted with windows team. Windows 10 will continue to support at least one release of Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel until October 14, 2025. So, the OS build of windows 10 will not increase unlimited.

Based on my understanding, windows 10 OS build number will not up to 22000. At least for now, OS build number 22000 is the standard that distinguishes Windows 10 from Windows 11.

Thanks for understanding.

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4 people found this answer helpful.
Jason Sandys 31,151 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-10-12T14:56:29.19+00:00

This is correct. Anything above 10.0.22000.0 is Win 11. Anything below is Win 10.

Lu Dai-MSFT 28,346 Reputation points

2021-10-14T07:50:21.017+00:00

@Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko Did the information I provided is helpful to you? If it is helpful, please accept the answer, it will make someone else who has the similar confusion easily find the answer.

Thanks for your kindness in advance.

triendl.kj 11 Reputation points

2021-12-20T15:45:27.35+00:00

It is so unfortunate that an OS used by billions can't provide a standard API to query a simple display name/caption for the product itself.

Since years vendors and authors for tools that want to display or log OS information have to hunt down myriads of ways. The build number isn't enough, simply because it isn't future proof! If I create a condition on build number>=22000 my tool would still display/log "Windows 11" even if it's already Windows 12 or whatever it will be called in its next major version.

Then there's all the license flavors - Home, Pro and whatnot.

Developers would need to at least know how either

... winver.exe determines the resource id being used when loading from C:\Windows\Branding\Basebrd\basebrd.dll

... or get-wmiobject win32_operatingsystem | select Caption tinkers together the caption.

Jonathan Mills 0 Reputation points

2023-02-07T14:13:46.9933333+00:00

I think many understand your technical logic, but it does not answer the base question. Windows 10 and 11 are different in many ways to the majority of users. It also contains far greater limitations on hardware support. Within Win 10 update there is direct mention of testing for Win 11. It seems clear that for the majority, it should be shown as a different product; important for software that itself now differentiates. In essence you should work to user needs and requests, rather than to expect your clients to work to yours.
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12 additional answers

Jason Sandys 31,151 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-03-01T14:50:30.097+00:00

So why wouldn't Windows 11 be 11.0.22000.123?

Because that's what we chose. Nothing else truly matters here.
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Daniel Hamilton 1 Reputation point

2022-03-08T13:09:21.143+00:00

Hi Jason,
Thanks for your time attempting to answer my question. Hope your day gets better.

Jason Sandys 31,151 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-03-08T14:37:50.043+00:00

Thanks Daniel. My day is going great, thank you.
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Luke Pafford 1 Reputation point

2022-08-19T05:44:24.297+00:00
Since snark has been allowed onto the thread, I'm going to eagerly jump at my chance to share my 2 cents.

I created this Microsoft account just so I can comment about how this has to be the single most idiotic decision I've ever seen in my life.

Allow me to explain how thousands of users are going to stumble upon this thread in astonishment:

Receive instruction to build a report of OS major versions

Run [Environment]::OSVersion.Version in PowerShell

See the following output Major Minor Build Revision
----- ----- ----- --------
10 0 22000 0

Think... "Wait a second, I could've sworn I was on a Windows 11 machine?

Run get-wmiobject win32_operatingsystem | select Caption

See following output Caption
-------
Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise Evaluation

Say to yourself, "Ok so I actually am on Windows 11!... Wait a second... don't tell me Microsoft didn't learn their lesson AGAIN that having their major versions map to 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 was an utterly incomprehensible decision. Surely they didn't do that again right? right??"

Run a Google search

Find this thread

Find that the justification is simply "yeah cuz we felt like it"

Sit back and feel good about yourself knowing that even though you've made bad decisions in life, nothing holds a candle to this.

What really happened is devs simply didn't think that far ahead, or things are kept deliberately complicated so you're forced to buy security products. I'd have infinitely more respect if that was just simply disclosed.
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Jason Sandys 31,151 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-08-19T16:47:28.313+00:00

Sigh. I want to refrain from answering here to not feed trolls, but I just can't. Bottom line here is that Windows 11 is a product name and not the technical version of the product. I cannot help if this is something you don't like or confuses you. This is not in any way unprecedented for Windows or other software. Microsoft 365 apps (formerly Office 365) do not have version numbers that start with 365 and as noted Windows Vista, 7, and 8 were all version 6.x. It is what it is and is trivial to handle with a small amount of understanding, please move along with more important things in life.
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Matthew Hanrahan 0 Reputation points

2023-11-12T06:37:54.2966667+00:00

HKLM:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion ProductName shows Windows 10 on one of my Windows 11 machines. Guess they missed updating the product name there.
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Jonathan Berg 6 Reputation points

2024-04-03T17:16:04.77+00:00

I'd like to provide a practical scenario to this because this is something I've been looking for in helping to apply different settings to different builds. @Jason Sandys I see what you're saying in regards to the thinking behind the way it's designed for compatibility, but I don't know if you truly know or understand the difficulty this has placed on some of us in order to apply settings efficiently.

The scenario involves the mitigation of CVE-2023-32019. This document was released with how to mitigate this vulnerability. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/kb5028407-how-to-manage-the-vulnerability-associated-with-cve-2023-32019-bd6ed35f-48b1-41f6-bd19-d2d97270f080

This involves setting a different DWORD value for each different build. I can do this by GP and apply the Item Level Targeting, but only if I have a way to differentiate between the builds. This is a method that has worked in the past, but now it doesn't. More than likely, unless someone can provide a meaningful way I can apply this through group policy for each of the different builds, I'm going to have to resort to scripting. I don't mind resorting to scripting, but the growing trend does seem to be that scripting is needed for so many things nowadays, it's becoming cumbersome to keep up with.
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