diff --git a/projectfiles/CodeBlocks/wesnoth.cbp b/projectfiles/CodeBlocks/wesnoth.cbp
index e04cd2d7607..02790bca21c 100644
--- a/projectfiles/CodeBlocks/wesnoth.cbp
+++ b/projectfiles/CodeBlocks/wesnoth.cbp
@@ -249,6 +249,8 @@
 		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/notifications.hpp" />
 		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/open.cpp" />
 		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/open.hpp" />
+		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/version.cpp" />
+		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/version.hpp" />
 		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/windows_console.cpp" />
 		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/windows_console.hpp" />
 		<Unit filename="../../src/desktop/windows_tray_notification.cpp" />
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 74b34a550ec..5919df92d6b 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -775,6 +775,7 @@ set(wesnoth-main_SRC
 	game_initialization/depcheck.cpp
 	desktop/notifications.cpp
 	desktop/open.cpp
+	desktop/version.cpp
 	dialogs.cpp
 	display_chat_manager.cpp
 	editor/action/action.cpp
diff --git a/src/SConscript b/src/SConscript
index a624a0e2f95..b40a695f8fa 100644
--- a/src/SConscript
+++ b/src/SConscript
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ wesnoth_sources = Split("""
     game_initialization/create_engine.cpp
     desktop/notifications.cpp
     desktop/open.cpp
+    desktop/version.cpp
     game_initialization/depcheck.cpp
     dialogs.cpp
     display_chat_manager.cpp
diff --git a/src/desktop/version.cpp b/src/desktop/version.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b6d80558d5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/desktop/version.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+   Copyright (C) 2015 by Ignacio Riquelme Morelle <shadowm2006@gmail.com>
+   Part of the Battle for Wesnoth Project http://www.wesnoth.org/
+
+   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
+
+   See the COPYING file for more details.
+*/
+
+#define GETTEXT_DOMAIN "wesnoth-lib"
+
+#include "desktop/version.hpp"
+
+#include "formatter.hpp"
+#include "gettext.hpp"
+#include "log.hpp"
+
+#if defined(_X11) || defined(__APPLE__)
+
+#include <cerrno>
+#include <cstring>
+
+#include <sys/utsname.h>
+
+#endif
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+
+#ifndef UNICODE
+#define UNICODE
+#endif
+#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+
+#include <windows.h>
+
+#endif
+
+static lg::log_domain log_desktop("desktop");
+#define ERR_DU LOG_STREAM(err, log_desktop)
+#define LOG_DU LOG_STREAM(info, log_desktop)
+
+namespace desktop
+{
+
+std::string os_version()
+{
+#if defined(_X11) || defined(__APPLE__)
+
+	utsname u;
+
+	if(uname(&u) != 0) {
+		ERR_DU << "os_version: uname error (" << strerror(errno) << ")\n";
+	}
+
+	return (formatter() << u.sysname << ' '
+						<< u.release << ' '
+						<< u.version << ' '
+						<< u.machine).str();
+
+#elif defined(_WIN32)
+
+	ERR_DU << "os_version: STUB!\n";
+	return "Microsoft Windows";
+
+#else
+
+	ERR_DU << "os_version(): unsupported platform\n";
+	return _("operating_system^<unknown>");
+
+#endif
+}
+
+} // end namespace desktop
+
diff --git a/src/desktop/version.hpp b/src/desktop/version.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..10cc7e1bade
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/desktop/version.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+   Copyright (C) 2015 by Ignacio Riquelme Morelle <shadowm2006@gmail.com>
+   Part of the Battle for Wesnoth Project http://www.wesnoth.org/
+
+   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
+
+   See the COPYING file for more details.
+*/
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Platform identification and version information functions.
+ */
+
+#ifndef DESKTOP_VERSION_HPP_INCLUDED
+#define DESKTOP_VERSION_HPP_INCLUDED
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace desktop
+{
+
+/**
+ * Returns a string with the running OS name and version information.
+ *
+ * On Unix-type platforms, this will be the uname information (which is rarely
+ * useful). On Windows, this is a string we generate ourselves by processing
+ * GetVersionEx's output data.
+ *
+ * Needless to say, this is a highly experimental and unreliable function and
+ * odds are its output is not particularly useful most of the time.
+ */
+std::string os_version();
+
+}
+
+#endif