Determining MySQL version is not very difficult but the command line is a quick trick and its useful.
Once you are logged in to the server issue mysql -h localhost -V command:
C:\xampp\mysql\bin>mysql -h localhost -V
C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysql.EXE Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.1.41, for Win32 (ia32)
Another option is to logon to MySQL and run SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'version'; query:
mysql> SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'version';
+---------------+------------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+------------+
| version | 5.0.90-log |
+---------------+------------+
1 row in set
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