Comments on: Will Xcode Be Coming To Windows Soon?

By: Shahed

Shahed — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:31:35 +0000

What about GNUStep and its dev tools on Windows ?

I am trying to get into iPhone development, and see GNUStep as a
good way to get familiar with Cocoa etc.

Who says Cocoa cant run on windows ? GNUSteps implementation may be buggy on windows, but it can be used as a stepping stool before investing in a Mac (Yes I plan to purchase a Mini)

If XCode was released with support for GUNStep or whatever implementation of the OpenStep frameworks, it would be just GREAT !!!

(But then I wont invest in a Mac, so apple would lose out…)

By: ZeDD2006

ZeDD2006 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:14:41 +0000

I never got eclipse to work on my mac box. I remember reading a article about steve wanting more applications developed for mac, mainly games, because they rulled the gaming industry before he was kicked out. If xCode was ported to windows, what do you think would happen to the future of games? most companies use Microsucks visual studio to create games, very very few of them dont use it. But if they were given an development suite that runs both on linux, windows AND mac, bam…they just increased there revenue of games, linux users want games. Mac users want games. This is where xcode would be the best solution, either that or microsfot releases visual studio for mac, which i dont see that EVER happening, but i could be wrong. but one the of the 2 need to happen.

By: VictorTarsus

VictorTarsus — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:01:38 +0000

I can’t really see Apple releasing Xcode on the Crapdows OS. Besides as mentioned previously, what self respecting Windows Developer want with Xcode? Even if they wanted to get into the development of Software for the Mac, a Mini is by far cheaper than most commercial grade developer geared Windows boxes.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:45:01 +0000

I think the only way Xcode would come to Windows is to support the development of native iPhone apps.

I have a Windows PC and have an interest in writing apps for the iPhone. I’m not however going to plunk down $1,100 for a MacBook just to write iPhone apps. Apple will need to have a Windows-based IDE (whatever it is) to ensure the widest possible developer base for the iPhone.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:45:11 +0000

Don’t forget, Apple also made AirPort Setup Assistant for Windows too…

By: Apple’s Trojan Horse: Webkit - The Apple Blog

Apple’s Trojan Horse: Webkit - The Apple Blog — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:30:21 +0000

[...] Chris is at it again, and recently wrote up his own take on a topic that I took a stab at a few months back. While my guess at Xcode dropping on the Windows platform was received with both [...]

By: Parvenu74

Parvenu74 — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:33:31 +0000

What would be more compelling to developers: XCode on Windows making applications for Windows and/or Mac OS X, or XCode on Leopard which creates Universal apps which can run on Mac OS, Windows, and possibly even Linux?

The territory to conquer is the business desktop, and right now I think an impediment to that is Microsoft’s entrenched position with Active Directory and other enterprise/directory management tools. Sure, it sounds nice to start swapping out Macs for aging WinXP boxes, but how will the new Mac boxes fit into the group policy schemes and play well with the prevailing directory management/security scheme?

Developers are certainly a boon for your platform, but you need to get the network admins on board too, and for that you’ll need to either make Leopard integrate with A/D like it was designed to be a native client, or you’ll need to create an entire enterprise management replacement with a stupid-easy, and error-resistant migration path for enterprises with tens of thousands, if not millions of users.

By: scott lewis

scott lewis — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:06:12 +0000

As one of the “dime a dozen” Mac developers, I have to say it’s unlikely Xcode for Windows would be released. It’s a good IDE, and I really like most of it, but it is intimately tied to Mac technologies, most notably Obj-C and the Cocoa frameworks. In the Windows world it would compete with quite a few very good IDE’s that already have a good following.

I think every Mac developer keeps hoping Apple will release a version of Xcode that would allow cross-platform compilation, so that the code we write for Macs would work under Windows as well. This also seems unlikely due to a large number of issues.

I think all us developers continue to hope Apple will unlock the iPhone to some degree in 2008. That’s our best chance to reach a wider market with our expertise.

By: Halfactivist

Halfactivist — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:01:38 +0000

I don’t think Xcode will be released for Windows,
no, i don’t even think it exists.
This is a dream since the cancellation of Yellow Box for Windows.
Xcode is an *step based application, but none of QT for Windows, Safari for Windows, iTunes (even fo osx) are.
So, if apple had Yellow Box for windows still alive somewhere, I think they’d use it for their software…but they don’t.
Therefore, they’d need to recreate an Aqua looking application for Xcode like they did for Safari?
But, that’d suppose there is no cocoa etc for Windows? So what would be the point of Xcode for Windows?

Anyway, creating Xcode for Windows wouldn’t serve Mac OS X, because that would mean that Windows centered developers would develop Windows centered applications that would also run on Mac OS X because their original focus is Windows.

If it really happens, then that would mean Steve Jobs and consorts have decided they have definitely lost the software game they started with NeXT.

By: MCJE

MCJE — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 03:32:48 +0000

Maybe Apple should just put the source code (or as much as it legally can) for Xcode under the GPL instead of porting it, then just stand back and see what the developers do. It may be ported to Windows, it may not. The worst I see happening is that developers have more control of their tools.

By: sjmills

sjmills — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:44:25 +0000

Apple needs to stop screwing around with Windows and phones and put engineers back on Carbon.

By: Richard Hyde

Richard Hyde — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:51:13 +0000

I think Andre is right, the next thing we’ll see from Apple for Windows is iChat. It would be free, include most of the new effects from the new Leopard which where demoed at the WWDC and, most importantly, be released the same time as iChat for iPhone.

“You want to IM from your iPhone, sure use just get your mates to install iChat for Windows”. It’s a shame that the iPhone is missing a front camera for video calls, please Mr Jobs can you add one along with 3G for the European version?

By: Andre Da Costa

Andre Da Costa — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:23:01 +0000

I do not agree I believe the next Apple software to be released for Windows is iChat. It just makes sense,

By: WraithX

WraithX — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:35:39 +0000

I must say - I would be blown away if this happened. It would be a masterful move by Apple.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:17:44 +0000

The applications Apple has brought to Windows are there only because it gets people using Apple hardware. iTunes is there because of the iPod, and so is QuickTime (even though QuickTime has been available for Windows for a long time, I’d argue that the only reason it’s there now is for iTunes movie/video codecs, namely h.264). Plus, Xcode 3.0 has been rewritten using Obj-C 2.0, which is Cocoa-exclusive. The reasons Apple hasn’t ported Cocoa to Windows have been listed in many more places than one. And the iPhone certainly isn’t going to influence Apple to bring Xcode to Windows either: it’s OS X at heart.

By: Craig Beck

Craig Beck — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:15:33 +0000

Umm… nop, don’t think so.

While I choose to live the Apple Life ™ at home, I get to live the life of a .NET developer during the day. Xcode, while nice, doesn’t yet compare to the Visual Studio ecology… It’s very easy feature-rich, and dammit — kinda addictive.

That said… I’m eagerly awaiting Xcode 3.0.

By: Hydraulix

Hydraulix — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 03:32:10 +0000

People! If anyone is familiar with pre-Mac OS X before Apple bought the OS from NEXT. NEXT’s development environment was running on Windows and creating Windows applications.

Just like when Apple acquired the NEXT OS, turned it into Mac OS X, and kept an Intel version going behind the scenes; it’s also very possible that Apple has continued to update the development tools to continue work in a Windows environment. In fact, it was the original plan to keep having Windows applications, but was nixed because Microsoft might perceive it as a threat. Back then Apple really needed Microsoft to keep updating MS Office and Internet Explorer. So Apple was playing very nice. But times have changed and I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple still has the ability to easily do it if they choose to.

“NeXT partnered with Sun Microsystems to create OpenStep, which was NeXTSTEP without the Mach-based Unix kernel. When it was founded, NeXT originally intended to sell a toolkit running on top of other operating systems, but ventured into hardware instead. After dropping their hardware business, NeXT returned to selling a toolkit to run on other OSes. New products based on OpenStep continued to ship, including OpenStep Enterprise, a version that ran on Microsoft’s Windows NT.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT

By: Scottle

Scottle — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 01:38:16 +0000

There’s a bigger problem that everyone’s missing: Xcode isn’t particularly good.

It would not fare well in direct comparison to various Windows development tools. The compile time is abysmal compared to some. The debugger is barely functional. I mean, come on.

By: Cliff

Cliff — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:51:03 +0000

It doesn’t make sense to have X-code on Windows platform. About development tool, it is more likely Apple will release a AJAX Dev kit for both Mac and Windows. It can get more developers to build Web2.0 apps for iPhone, testing on Safari, and more likely the look and feel is very close to X-Code so that it’s easier for developers to foretaste how does it feel like to develop Mac software using X-code in future.

My best guess the next software Apple will release is iChat for Windows. Just imagine how nice iPhone can video conference with PC (Mac/PC), at the same time enhance its inherent selling value compare with other competitors.

By: pwb

pwb — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:19:20 +0000

No way they would do Xcode for Windows. The candidates I see would be, in order of possibility: iChat, iPhoto, Mail.

By: ScienceMan

ScienceMan — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:49:40 +0000

It already has been done — and is called “Eclipse.” Have any doubts? Then consider that WebObjects support is being withdrawn for XCode in Leopard and beyond, and go learn about WOLips. Then think for a while.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:10:03 +0000

No. Xcode is there to make it easy to develop high quality Mac apps, without buying an expensive development suite, and hence, cause more people to develop for the Mac. Why would Apple want to make developing for Windows easier? They might have an internal version of Xcode for Windows (but I doubt it), but Apple would never release one publicly.

By: vanfruniken

vanfruniken — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:08:47 +0000

The fact remains that Apple does already have an environment with which it has developed such things as QuickTime, iTunes and Safari (forget about AppleWorks, because that is legacy software).

Would they be willing to release it to developers on the Windows platform, and what would be the most interesting proposition: when intended target apps are for the Mac or for the PC?

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 16:01:32 +0000

This just seems crazy… That would be the most ass backwards thing to program Xcode on a windows based machine… I just cant imagine…

By: Keith Mason

Keith Mason — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:51:45 +0000

Yeah, sorry - I’m with Tyler and Jason on this one. Your reasoning seems a bit flawed. Tyler hit the nail on the head - why develop on an OS that you can’t test your apps on? Who says Apple HAS to release another windows app anyway?

By: Jason Terhorst

Jason Terhorst — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:19:51 +0000

No.

By: Tyler Kieft

Tyler Kieft — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:07:00 +0000

This seems extremely unlikely, given the fact that a development environment would be useless without the ability to compile and test the software that you are writing. Unless Apple ports their runtime environment (Cocoa, Carbon, etc.) to Windows, which I don’t see happening, then a release of XCode on Windows would be really pointless.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:32:43 +0000

Final Cut and Shake are really there to push the hardware just as much as software sales. Look at Apples profit charts, software is a very slim margin compared to macs and ipods. This is always brought up when people bring up the osx licensing idea every now and again

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:03:31 +0000

I see. But then, the reasonable approach for a wannabe developer is to get a Mac– and a Mini would do fine. After all, what developer doesn’t have old display/mouse/keyboards lying around? One of the nice things about Apple’s development tools is that they are relatively lightweight (compared, e.g., with MS Visual Whatever). This, btw, is why I think the Mini will survive, despite recent rumors to the contrary. It’s ideal for the impoverished developer.

By: Magnus

Magnus — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:56:18 +0000

Don’t forget good old AppleWorks, it’s still availale for Windows

By: Nick Santilli

Nick Santilli — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:49:42 +0000

Matt - sorry, no. Apple would be releasing Xcode on Windows to allow for a way to develop Apple software from the Windows environment - as a way to pique the interest of developer snd prompt them to make the switch.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:46:29 +0000

This seems extremely unlikely, unless I’m misunderstanding. -Apple- producing a -free- development environment for -Windows- software? Putting aside the technical issues (Objective-C for Windows? .NET vs. Cocoa?), this would put Apple software in direct, head-to-head competition with a core Microsoft product. Bad idea. Don’t hold your breath.