First of all, I don't think this question is a duplicate of Detect 64bit OS (windows) in Python because imho it has not been thoroughly answered. The only approaching answer is: Use sys.getwindowsversion() or the existence of PROGRAMFILES(X86) (if 'PROGRAMFILES(X86)' in os.environ) But: Does the windows environment variable PROGRAMFILES(X86) reliable? I fear that anyone can create it, even if it's not present on the system. How to use sys.getwindowsversion() in order to get the architecture? Regarding sys.getwindowsversion(): The link http://docs.python.org/library/sys.html#sys.getwindowsversion leads us to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724451(VS.85).aspx but I don't see anything related to the architecture (32bit/64bit). Moreover, the platform element in the returned tuple seems to be independent of the architecture. One last note: I'm looking for a solution using both python 2.5 and a windows version starting at Windows XP Thanks! Edit: The relevant info is available here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724340(v=VS.85).aspx but how can I get this with python? Edit2: On a 64bit windows, with a 32bit python interpreter: os.environ["PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE"] returns 'x86' platform.architecture() returns ('32bit', 'WindowsPE') Continue reading...
