I'm finding it hard to accept that I must go out and buy a mac/apple machine. I recently learned that I can run iOS X Lion as a virtual machine on my windows machine and install XCode. Has anyone attempted this with any level of success? Thanks! A big help since my bank account won't approve a new mac purchase...

It can be done, but it takes some work. It also violates Apple's licensing terms. I built a "hacintosh" a few years ago but I never tried running Xcode on it. It would be a lot easier to buy a Mac mini. It is a great machine for the price.

Hey, thanks Red Dog. That's helpful, much appreciated. I wish Apple was a little more open... Cheers!

http://www.osx86project.org/ Has good info for what you want to try.

I got mini Mac for 200 on eBay .. I ailed the guy and talked him into a buy it now.. It worked out . It's the cheap option

I did it to learn, then bought a mac mini when it came time to submit just to keep it legal.

Red Dog has it right...the biggest issue is that it violates the Apple TOS. Not the best way to start your relationship with Apple, especially given their attitude towards things like that! I did the Mac mini thing to start as well, but if you do, make sure it supports OS X Mountain Lion...not all do. It needs to be a 64-bit Intel version. If it doesn't support Mountain Lion, you can't get the latest Xcode, and can't compile for the latest iOS. Good luck! Mark

I should add that while you can't do iOS on Windows, you can do Android on Mac. So, if you get a Mac, you're covered for both platforms, which is nice! Mark

Wow, you guys are all fantastic! Thanks a million for all the sound advice and help, that alone pumps me up! With that I think I made up my mind... even though I love a challenge and learning things I think the "hackintosh" idea is probably not the right start. Rather, save the time and learn how to build apps. The time value will most likely offset the cost of a new machine. Still loathing the apple dictatorship tho... ;\

Welcome. I love my Hackintoshes but there is indeed a learning curve there to build them. You can put together a pretty nasty Ivy Bridge Hackintosh for @ $600 that will rival the latest macs. But in the amount of time it takes you'd indeed have a couple of apps built. Which mac mini's models are you guys dropping $200 on?

@ atrain mine is a 2010 late edition with the DVD.. I have the lastest os and 4gb with 128gb.. Works great. I just needed a mouse and keyboard .. Instead of buying a monitor I just team view it with my laptop..

Apple is very open. Once you convert, you'll never go back. The quote that is true, for once. If you wish to take iOS seriously, you need a mac. There's no getting round it, I'm afraid.

I second @Annandale Apps. All the guys are exactly to the point. Eclipse on Mac OSX looks much sleeker too than on Windows (!!!).