Python is a popular programming language that is provided for different platforms and operating systems. Python can be installed for Windows operating systems like Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server series. Even in this tutorial, we will examine how to update or upgrade Python for Windows 10 this tutorial can be used the same way for other Windows operating systems.
Python Major Versions Python2 and Python3
Before starting to upgrade the Python we should learn major Python versions. Python is an old programming language that has multiple main versions where there is no compatibility between these major versions. Currently, there are 2 major Python versions called Python2 which are the older version whose popularity is decreasing and Python3 is the latest, up to date and popular Python version. In this tutorial, we will focus on updating Python 3 versions but at the bottom of this page we will simply describe Python2 update/upgrade process.
Display Current Python Version
Before starting update or upgrade we will list the current version of the Python installation. We will run the following python command with the --version parameter which will print Python major and minor version. This command will run on the CMD or MS-DOS or PowerShell.
> python --versionUpdate/Upgrade Python with Python Installer
In order to update or upgrade we will download the new version of the Python installer. Python installer can be downloaded from the following link which is officially provided via Python community. In this case, we will select the Python 3.8.5 installer.
https://www.python.org/downloads/
You will be navigated into the following page which provides different installer files for different operating systems and platforms like Source File, MacOS, Windows 32, and 64 bit and Web installer. If you have 32-bit windows operating systems select x86 installers but commonly the 64 bit operating systems are used and you can download Windows x86-64 executable installer, Windows x86-64 web-based installer. Web-installer will download the only tiny installer and Python installation files will be downloaded via the internet. Windows x86-64 executable installer will install for 64 Windows 10.
We will start the upgrade process by clicking to the downloaded installer
You will see the following screen where the Upgrade Now button will shown. We will click to the Upgrade Now button which will upgrade into the 3.8.5 64-bit in this case.
