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
If using the .NET 2.0 (or later) framework you can use the CopyFromScreen()
method detailed here:
http://www.geekpedia.com/tutorial181_Capturing-screenshots-using-Csharp.html
//Create a new bitmap.
var bmpScreenshot = new Bitmap(Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width,
Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Height,
PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);
// Create a graphics object from the bitmap.
var gfxScreenshot = Graphics.FromImage(bmpScreenshot);
// Take the screenshot from the upper left corner to the right bottom corner.
gfxScreenshot.CopyFromScreen(Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.X,
Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Y,
0,
0,
Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Size,
CopyPixelOperation.SourceCopy);
// Save the screenshot to the specified path that the user has chosen.
bmpScreenshot.Save("Screenshot.png", ImageFormat.Png);
Best Answer
I think people answering this topic miss the point entirely. I think we all get the answer it cannot be done at this point, however, this is not entirely correct. The device function can be altered by using profiles that allow basic functionality to be turned off. There is a caveat to this and you can read more about it at Apple Support and the Developer website. http://support.apple.com/kb/dl926 Apple configuration utility.
It is not a helpful answer to suggest it is not worth protecting intellectual property especially when this is a main source of some professions (selling and displaying images). Do not discount the importance of apps that make it harder for people to steal from professionals. It should be obvious that this is a concern to may professional artists and they want Applications and Programmers to understand this is a need.
It is also poor logic to say if people want it bad enough they will get it, so why bother protecting it. Think of that logic the next time you want to lock your door when you leave your house or lock your car after all if people want to they will just break the window so why bother locking it?
People should continue to show Apple where this option for developers is a vaild need and copywrite is protected by law.