Scripting: My take on Batch-based OS detection

I've seen a lot of OS-detection methods out there. I know PowerShell and VBScript scripts are a lot more robust than batch scripts, but sometimes its easier to just fall back to good old CMD.EXE. To that end here's my take on an OS-detection script. In the past I've run into some issues where an application might create a folder structure that exists on a post-vista OS on a pre-vista one. So rather than check for paths or folders, I've found its better to see if environment variables have been defined, like so:

@ECHO OFF :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TITLE Detect OS Version - Pre-Post Vista :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Purpose: Check for PUBLIC folder to determine OS type and execute actions. :: Version: 1.3 :: Author: ZeusABJ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Clear screen to hide "UNC paths not supported" error message: CLS :: Define Variables: SET _OSType=Unknown SET _OSArch=Unknown :: Verify PUBLIC environment variable is defined: IF DEFINED PUBLIC ( SET _OSType=Vista-2008 or later ) ELSE ( SET _OSType=XP-2003 or earlier ) :: Verify PROGRAMFILES(X86) environment variable is defined: IF DEFINED PROGRAMFILES(X86) ( SET _OSArch=x64 ) ELSE ( SET _OSArch=x86 ) :: Display result: ECHO You appear to be running an %_OSArch% version of Windows %_OSType%. :: Uncomment to view script results: ECHO. PAUSE EXIT
Just for grins here's an even more granular method using WMIC:

@ECHO OFF :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TITLE Detect OS Version - WMIC Method :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Purpose: Determine OS version using the WMI database. :: Version: 2.0 :: Author: ZeusABJ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Clear screen to hide "UNC paths not supported" error message: CLS :: Define Variables: SET _OSVersion=Unknown :: Query WMI to get the OS Caption to detect OS version: WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"2000" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=2000 WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Windows XP" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=XP WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Server 2003" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=2003 WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Vista" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=Vista :: Note: The additional "r" after "Server" is not a typo: WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Serverr 2008" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=2008 WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Windows 7" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=7 WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Server 2008 R2" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=2008R2 WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Windows 8" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=8 WMIC OS GET Caption | FINDSTR /c:"Server 2012" > NUL IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 SET _OSVersion=2012 :: Display result: IF %_OSVersion%==Unknown ( ECHO Unable to determine Windows version. ) ELSE ( ECHO You appear to be using Windows %_OSVersion% ) :: Uncomment to view script results: ECHO. PAUSE EXIT
Hope somebody finds this useful!