The operating environment is basically configured with operating system Windows 95/98 or newer system (except Windows 2000), CPU 233 Mhz processor memory 64 MB, 4 times speed CD-ROM, 4 times speed CD-R/RW, 2 MB video card DVD-Rom or DVD R/RW/RAM, and DirectX 7 sound card support.

Apple's Mac OS/X operating environment is basically configured with operating system Mac OS 8. 1 or updated system CPU 233MHz processor or PowerPC G3 and G4 memory 64 MB graphics card with more than 2 MB, which can support 800x600 resolution display. The Sims can run on Windows 2000, Window 7 and Windows 8/8. 1, although these operating systems do not support it. Sims.exe, the main program of the Sims, needs the user to operate as an administrator. Sims adopt the technology of combining 2D and 3D images. Technically speaking, Sims are presented as polygonal 3D models, while houses and objects are preprocessed and displayed separately. Windows 8 users may encounter various errors when running games, such as program crash, invalid creation of family window, disappearance of family created after moving in, etc. Because Sims items are pre-built, players must manually store them in the corresponding folders when installing and downloading items from the network.