It's certainly possible to develop on a Windows machine, in fact, my first application was exclusively developed on the old Dell Precision I had at the time :)
There are three routes;
- Install OSx86 (aka iATKOS / Kalyway) on a second partition/disk and dual boot.
- Run Mac OS X Server under VMWare (Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) onwards, read the update below).
- Use Delphi XE4 and the macincloud service. This is a commercial toolset, but the component and lib support is growing.
The first route requires modifying (or using a pre-modified) image of Leopard that can be installed on a regular PC. This is not as hard as you would think, although your success/effort ratio will depend upon how closely the hardware in your PC matches that in Mac hardware - e.g. if you're running a Core 2 Duo on an Intel Motherboard, with an NVidia graphics card you are laughing. If you're running an AMD machine or something without SSE3 it gets a little more involved.
If you purchase (or already own) a version of Leopard then this is a gray area since the Leopard EULA states you may only run it on an "Apple Labeled" machine. As many point out if you stick an Apple sticker on your PC you're probably covered.
The second option is more costly. The EULA for the workstation version of Leopard prevents it from being run under emulation and as a result, there's no support in VMWare for this. Leopard server, however, CAN be run under emulation and can be used for desktop purposes. Leopard server and VMWare are expensive, however.
If you're interested in option 1) I would suggest starting at Insanelymac and reading the OSx86 sections.
I do think you should consider whether the time you will invest is going to be worth the money you will save though. It was for me because I enjoy tinkering with this type of stuff and I started during the early iPhone betas, months before their App Store became available.
Alternatively, you could pick up a low-spec Mac Mini from eBay. You don't need much horsepower to run the SDK and you can always sell it on later if you decide to stop development or buy a better Mac.
Update: You cannot create a Mac OS X Client virtual machine for OS X 10.6 and earlier. Apple does not allow these Client OSes to be virtualized. With Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) onwards, Apple has changed its licensing agreement in regards to virtualization. Source: VMWare KnowledgeBase
From Apples Dev Resources:
To set the user content and settings of the simulator to their factory state and remove the applications you have installed, choose
Device > Erase All Content and Settings.
(On older versions: iPhone Simulator > Reset Content and Settings.)
Best Answer
It's not possible in 3.0. It was only possible on 2.0 because it was an exploitable bug. The bug was fixed in 3.0 which is why it's not possible.
Apple don't intend the Default.png to be a "splash screen".
If you read the HIG, you'll see that the Default.png is suppose to represent your user interface as it would be "empty" - without any content. It is intended to give the user the illusion of an "near instant" launch.
Check out all of the Apple apps on the iPhone and you'll see how the default.png is meant to be used properly.
Apple frown upon using the Default.png as a splash screen. They say that it is really only appropriate for apps such as games that don't use the standard UI elements that are provided in the SDK.
That being said - lots of apps these days are using this feature to show splash screens, and seems Apple aren't really enforcing this guideline.
Long story short, you can do a splash screen, but it can't be dynamic - not anymore.