Index: Doc/library/sys.rst
===================================================================
--- Doc/library/sys.rst	(revision 77710)
+++ Doc/library/sys.rst	(working copy)
@@ -473,6 +473,9 @@
    Return a tuple containing five components, describing the Windows version
    currently running.  The elements are *major*, *minor*, *build*, *platform*, and
    *text*.  *text* contains a string while all other values are integers.
+   The components can also be accessed by name, so
+   ``sys.getwindowsversion()[0]`` is equivalent to
+   ``sys.getwindowsversion().major``
 
    *platform* may be one of the following values:
 
@@ -494,6 +497,8 @@
    Availability: Windows.
 
    .. versionadded:: 2.3
+   .. versionchanged:: 2.7
+      Added named component attributes
 
 
 .. data:: hexversion
Index: Lib/test/test_sys.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_sys.py	(revision 77710)
+++ Lib/test/test_sys.py	(working copy)
@@ -205,13 +205,18 @@
     def test_getwindowsversion(self):
         if hasattr(sys, "getwindowsversion"):
             v = sys.getwindowsversion()
-            self.assertTrue(isinstance(v, tuple))
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(v[:], tuple))
             self.assertEqual(len(v), 5)
             self.assertTrue(isinstance(v[0], int))
             self.assertTrue(isinstance(v[1], int))
             self.assertTrue(isinstance(v[2], int))
             self.assertTrue(isinstance(v[3], int))
             self.assertTrue(isinstance(v[4], str))
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(v.major, int))
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(v.minor, int))
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(v.build, int))
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(v.platform, int))
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(v.service_pack, str))
 
     def test_dlopenflags(self):
         if hasattr(sys, "setdlopenflags"):
Index: Python/sysmodule.c
===================================================================
--- Python/sysmodule.c	(revision 77710)
+++ Python/sysmodule.c	(working copy)
@@ -564,19 +564,45 @@
 "
 );
 
+static PyTypeObject WindowsVersionType = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0};
+
+static PyStructSequence_Field windows_version_fields[] = {
+	{"major", "Major version number"},
+	{"minor", "Minor version number"},
+	{"build", "Build number"},
+	{"platform", "Operating system platform"},
+	{"service_pack", "Latest Service Pack installed on the system"},
+	{0}
+};
+
+static PyStructSequence_Desc windows_version_desc = {
+	"sys.getwindowsversion",  /* name */
+	getwindowsversion_doc,    /* doc */
+	windows_version_fields,   /* fields */
+	5
+};
+
 static PyObject *
 sys_getwindowsversion(PyObject *self)
 {
+	PyObject *version;
+	int pos = 0;
 	OSVERSIONINFO ver;
 	ver.dwOSVersionInfoSize = sizeof(ver);
 	if (!GetVersionEx(&ver))
 		return PyErr_SetFromWindowsErr(0);
-	return Py_BuildValue("HHHHs",
-	                     ver.dwMajorVersion,
-	                     ver.dwMinorVersion,
-	                     ver.dwBuildNumber,
-	                     ver.dwPlatformId,
-	                     ver.szCSDVersion);
+
+	version = PyStructSequence_New(&WindowsVersionType);
+	if (version == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	PyStructSequence_SET_ITEM(version, pos++, PyInt_FromLong(ver.dwMajorVersion));
+	PyStructSequence_SET_ITEM(version, pos++, PyInt_FromLong(ver.dwMinorVersion));
+	PyStructSequence_SET_ITEM(version, pos++, PyInt_FromLong(ver.dwBuildNumber));
+	PyStructSequence_SET_ITEM(version, pos++, PyInt_FromLong(ver.dwPlatformId));
+	PyStructSequence_SET_ITEM(version, pos++, PyString_FromString(ver.szCSDVersion));
+	
+	return version;
 }
 
 #endif /* MS_WINDOWS */
@@ -1499,6 +1525,13 @@
 	FlagsType.tp_init = NULL;
 	FlagsType.tp_new = NULL;
 
+	/* getwindowsversion */
+	if (WindowsVersionType.tp_name == 0)
+		PyStructSequence_InitType(&WindowsVersionType, &windows_version_desc);
+	/* prevent user from creating new instances */
+	WindowsVersionType.tp_init = NULL;
+	WindowsVersionType.tp_new = NULL;
+
 	/* float repr style: 0.03 (short) vs 0.029999999999999999 (legacy) */
 #ifndef PY_NO_SHORT_FLOAT_REPR
 	SET_SYS_FROM_STRING("float_repr_style",