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This has been asked before, I know, but the answers are a bit dated.

I think I've read somewhere that the Snow Leopard EULA has changed and that you now are allowed to install the OS on a Virtual Machine of some sort.

I know I should buy a Mac and I might do so, but I want to try Objective-C in practice before I do that.

I want to develop an application for iPhone, but if the IDE is as nasty as they say I might skip it altogether. I just want to have a look at it first.

So, is it possible do install what you need to develop iPhone apps on a Windows based machine as host?

Community
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Mikael Östberg
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    I've worked with many IDE (eclipse, VisualStudio, Delphi, ...) but XCode is really good. It's fast, has nice re-factor options and support for GIT and SVN. – rckoenes Apr 12 '11 at 13:34
  • Ok, my opinion (and not intended to start a flame war) is - I recommend Macs to people because I think they combine well engineered hardware with an rock solid OS and fantastically consistent UI. I do know quite a few developers who - after a week or two with a Mac -- have vowed never to go back to windows. My own experience of using xCode and then doing Android development has been that the android toolset feels like its years behind XCode. So my summary would be spend the money, I doubt you will regret it. Regardless of what you develop, Macs are great workhorses. – drekka May 23 '11 at 05:54
  • Your comment creates a false dichotomy that the choice is either Windows on Mac. – Eric Woodruff Jan 27 '14 at 18:36

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Yes. You can run OSX in a VM. I use MonoTouch and Visual Studio to write my applications in C# with a shared directory between the two. Write code in VS, build and debug on OSX within the simulator. It would also work with Objective-C if that's the path you take. If you're not a Mac Guy I would recommend MonoTouch though, it makes development MUCH faster.

blahdiblah
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Chris Kooken
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  • Do you mean that you write iPhone apps in C#? I can't say I am too interested in learning Objective-C and if I can write stuff in C# I'd be more than happy with that. – Mikael Östberg Apr 12 '11 at 14:12
  • Monotouch states: "Please note that MonoTouch requires a Mac, Apple's iPhone SDK and you must be part of Apple's iPhone Developer Program to test and deploy your software on a device and to redistribute your code.". Can that be performed using a VM? At least the testing part. – Mikael Östberg Apr 12 '11 at 14:19
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    Yes. It can, though not officially supported. – Chris Kooken Apr 12 '11 at 15:18
  • If I'm a c# developer , Can i only use MonoTouch ? where can I download the VM ? ( if needed ) – Royi Namir Sep 07 '12 at 08:04
  • Which virtual machine software are you using, Virtualbox or other? – basarat Apr 09 '13 at 09:39
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Yes , it is possible to run OSX snow leopard on your PC. I recommend that only for evaluation purposes (if you dont have access to mac development machines, friends/family/etc.).

Your shopping list would include:

  1. a legit copy of snow leopard.
  2. your choice of virtual machine (in my opinion , virtualbox is great, altough it doesnt support widescreen at the moment).
  3. some guide for combining the above (google is your friend).
  4. you will eventually need some drivers for your pc peripherals (sound card , usb etc).

I would start the research from step 3.. Once you're done , you will see that you need a very fast pc to develop, as Waiting for the apps to compile could be frustrating at times.

I tried to install OSX on my pc just for evaluation purposes , getting to know the SDK and the OS before I buy a machine. Actually waiting for the new series of MacBook Airs to buy one..

Nir Golan
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  • I think there is a plenty of resources about the subject (drivers, best hardware etc.) on the net, under the phrase "hackintosh"... – kolinko May 23 '11 at 17:12