Article Cleanup

This article requires a cleanup to meet The Sims Wiki's quality standards.
Reason: Various technical details on the page lack more exact info on which versions/bugs/packs/other they are about.
Please improve this article if you can.

Microsoft Windows is an operating system that is used on most computers that are not manufactured by Apple. It is the primary operating system for The Sims, with every base game, expansion, game and stuff pack released for Microsoft Windows, compared to macOS, which has either had a late release for some of its games or has not released packs for its operating system at all.

Windows has consistently relied on x86^{[note 1]} since Windows 95 and remains able to run x86 programs as of Windows 11 25H2, making it easier to run older games and programs than on macOS.

Windows versions

Reference timetable for the Windows versions mentioned in the games' sections and the years they stopped receiving Microsoft updates:^{[note 2]}

The Sims

The Sims and all expansion packs were officially released for Microsoft Windows. At the time of its release, The Sims was only available for Microsoft Windows until it was released for MacOS in July 2000. As well as this, the base game only supported Windows 95 and 98 but was later made available for Windows ME and XP as time went by, with expansions released after 2001 as well as new manufactured expansions and the base game released after 2001 having listed Windows ME and XP on its system requirements.

An odd thing to note is that some later releases, notably The Sims: Makin' Magic, do not have Windows 95 as a supported operating system despite fully supporting it. As well as this, The Sims is the only title able to be ran on Windows 95. The Sims usually runs fine on Windows Vista and 7 but users with Windows 8 and newer have had problems running the game.^{[confirmation needed]}

A re-release in 2025 called The Sims: Legacy Collection made it easier to play the game on later Windows versions.

The Sims 2

The Sims 2 and all expansion and stuff packs were officially released for Microsoft Windows. It is also notable that every expansion and stuff pack was released for Microsoft Windows while a large majority of stuff packs as well as the last two expansion packs were not released for MacOS, making Microsoft Windows the ideal operating system for playing The Sims 2. The Sims 2 fully supports Windows 98, ME, XP and Vista, although similar to The Sims, some later releases do not list Windows 98 as a supported operating system.

The Sims 2 runs fine on Windows 7 but most players have had little problems running The Sims 2 on Windows 8 and newer, such as the game crashing and graphic bugs.^{[confirmation needed]} These can be usually fixed by adjusting the settings when running the game.

A re-release in 2025 called The Sims 2: Legacy Collection made it easier to play the game on later Windows versions.

The Sims 3

The Sims 3 and all expansion and stuff packs and The Sims 3 Store objects were officially released for Microsoft Windows as well as MacOS. The Sims 3 supports Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1, although some players have problems running The Sims 3 on older computers with Windows XP and Vista.^{[confirmation needed]}

Despite not listing Windows 10 or 11 as a system requirement, The Sims 3 runs fine on these two operating systems, making The Sims 3 the title that runs fine on the most Microsoft Windows operating systems.

The Sims 4

The Sims 4 and all expansion, stuff and game packs as well as most kits were officially released for Microsoft Windows, with the base game only being available to run on Microsoft Windows until it was released for MacOS in March 2015. The Sims 4 has changed its system requirements many times. While it was able to be ran on Windows XP and Vista at the time of its release, support was soon dropped, with the game now unable to be played on these two operating systems. While The Sims 4 was released before Windows 10, later physical releases listed Windows 10 as its primary operating system. Support for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 was dropped eventually for The Sims 4, with The Sims 4 only being able to run on Windows 10 and 11.

Most kits for The Sims 4 were officially released for Microsoft Windows, with the exception of one kit which was released for console only.^{[confirmation needed]}

Patch 27 in 2015 added an AMD64^{[note 4]} version of the game, much later chronology-wise than macOS where The Sims 2 got a 64-bit version in 2020 through The Sims 2: Super Collection's Patch 1.2.4.

The x86 version was moved to a distinct The Sims 4: Legacy Version in Patch 88 in 2019 and limited its official access to players who ran 32-bit Windows OS versions. Legacy Version was itself made officially unplayable on December 12, 2022 even on 32-bit Windows OS versions.

The Sims Stories

The Sims Stories was officially released for Microsoft Windows and supports XP and Vista.

MySims

MySims was officially released for Microsoft Windows in 2008 and officially supports both XP and Vista.

In March 2025, MySims was re-released with Windows 10/11 support and updated graphics as part of the MySims Cozy Bundle, which also included MySims Kingdom.

The Sims Medieval

The Sims Medieval was officially released for Microsoft Windows. It runs very similar to The Sims 3, with Windows XP and newer running it well.

Notes