Maybe you should wait and see if it ships free with Lion. You might be complaining for nothing. Everyone can get by with XCode 3 for couple more months.
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Apple Releases Xcode 4 to Developers, Coming Soon to Mac App Store for $4.99
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Maybe you should wait and see if it ships free with Lion. You might be complaining for nothing. Everyone can get by with XCode 3 for couple more months.
Makes sense if the point was to avoid those people who download everything just because it's free.
But still I don't think it should be on the app store.
But still I don't think it should be on the app store.
$5 is a deal for an IDE, assuming you're not in the developer program. Commercial software is outrageous and, in my opinion, no less "buggy" (RAD - I'm looking at you...). What is a real shame is that I can't download this at work on my Windows machine to take home, I'm getting a page that tells me to use an Intel based Mac and links me to the Mac page. I have to use my crappy internet. 
A lot of the people who don't care about the $5 fee are viewing this whole thing from the wrong perspective. Sure, $5 is nothing if you need xcode for your job, or if you use xcode extensively and merely want to upgrade. To you, this probably seems like a dumb argument, but again, that's because you're not taking all views into account.
The problem is for novice programmers who tend to experiment with all sorts of languages and IDEs. It's not worth it for them to spend $5 just to try something out that they may not ever use again, especially if they're on a limited budget (and can't even afford to eat lunch at McDonald's once a week). I'm thinking students and younger people (I started programming when I was 10 years old). In this light, the current "xcode for free" is much like the free software trials that expire after a certain amount of time. The only difference is that if you want to use xcode for iOS or Mac, you need to pay the $99 fee to get going.
The whole "it costs money to develop xcode" or "I used to pay hundreds for this back in my day" is a BS excuse primarily because #1 this is not "your day" when you walked five miles in the snow to school, and #2 if you've ever watched an iOS keynote, one of the main points driven home repeatedly is the number of apps Apple has in its app stores, all of which are developed by $99 developers. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to create artificial walls for potential developers when active developers and their products are the reason Apple has gained hundreds of dollars on their stock price and continue to make billions and billions of dollars. Just as thousands of companies give you free entertainment (commercials) in hopes of you buying their products, Apple used to give you xcode in hopes of you developing for their platform.
Finally, some of you are seeing this as the "entitlement" generation. I don't see how that's so. I don't think people feel they are entitled to the software; they simply are pissed because they have to pay for it. Yes, there is a distinction between the two. You just can't imply that someone feels entitled because they want it for free. For example, being upset that the food samples they give out at the store are no longer there doesn't mean I feel I'm entitled to the food. I just liked the free samples, and I'm unhappy I no longer have the opportunity to sample something before buying it.
Now I don't have anything against Apple, and I'm not going to call them out for charging the $5 since there's probably some dumb reason for it, but I also don't have a problem with people complaining about the new fee.
The problem is for novice programmers who tend to experiment with all sorts of languages and IDEs. It's not worth it for them to spend $5 just to try something out that they may not ever use again, especially if they're on a limited budget (and can't even afford to eat lunch at McDonald's once a week). I'm thinking students and younger people (I started programming when I was 10 years old). In this light, the current "xcode for free" is much like the free software trials that expire after a certain amount of time. The only difference is that if you want to use xcode for iOS or Mac, you need to pay the $99 fee to get going.
The whole "it costs money to develop xcode" or "I used to pay hundreds for this back in my day" is a BS excuse primarily because #1 this is not "your day" when you walked five miles in the snow to school, and #2 if you've ever watched an iOS keynote, one of the main points driven home repeatedly is the number of apps Apple has in its app stores, all of which are developed by $99 developers. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to create artificial walls for potential developers when active developers and their products are the reason Apple has gained hundreds of dollars on their stock price and continue to make billions and billions of dollars. Just as thousands of companies give you free entertainment (commercials) in hopes of you buying their products, Apple used to give you xcode in hopes of you developing for their platform.
Finally, some of you are seeing this as the "entitlement" generation. I don't see how that's so. I don't think people feel they are entitled to the software; they simply are pissed because they have to pay for it. Yes, there is a distinction between the two. You just can't imply that someone feels entitled because they want it for free. For example, being upset that the food samples they give out at the store are no longer there doesn't mean I feel I'm entitled to the food. I just liked the free samples, and I'm unhappy I no longer have the opportunity to sample something before buying it.
Now I don't have anything against Apple, and I'm not going to call them out for charging the $5 since there's probably some dumb reason for it, but I also don't have a problem with people complaining about the new fee.
And those people can just use XCode 3 for the time being. You can complain further if XCode still costs money after Lion.
I haven't sheepishly accepted the price. Just facing a new reality Apple has applied. It isn't inevitable. It is fact. What we don't know is if XCode 4 will come free on the install medium for Lion. This $5 charge suggests it might not, but doesn't stop Apple from doing so.
I prefer the previous method of releasing a new major version Xcode with a new major release of OS X. Paid develops got early access, and others got it for 'free' with their paid OS X upgrade.
I've been able to download Xcode 4 for 'free' via my $99 iOS developer membership. I've chosen not to, due to things I've heard from a few other developers I trust. Short answer is, Xcode 4 isn't ready for prime time.
Now that XCode 4 has been released, it is no longer under NDA. I look forward to full reviews and great in-depth discussions about it.
I'd pay, and have, for a browser if it has something that I want over other browsers. I have no problem with that. Personally I doubt Apple will ever charge for Safari. If they do, I'll consider my options at that time. Unlike Xcode, there are real options to Safari on OS X.
I believe that Xcode 4, like FaceTime, will be included at no extra charge in Lion, as will any other formerly-free-but-now-paid app that Apple releases between now and Lion. I therefore have no issues with Xcode 4 being a paid program for the time being, given that I can still use Xcode 3 as I have been for the past few years.
The thing is, we don't really know. Apple hasn't said. Apple has used that excuse in the past for major version software upgrades. Just because they have fixed this issue with some products, does not mean they have fixed it for this software.
Why the inconsistency?
I don't have a problem with paying the $5, but the way Apple is charging users is very inconsistent.
FaceTime costs $1 for older systems because it was not previously advertised as an included feature. Fine, charge that dollar. I'll keep my Beta version until Lion comes out, which would probably have FaceTime included.
Xcode was included in previous versions of Mac OS X. At least to my knowledge, it was in Leopard and Snow Leopard as an optional install. So why are they charging $5 for upgrading to Xcode 4?
I don't have a problem with paying the $5, but the way Apple is charging users is very inconsistent.
FaceTime costs $1 for older systems because it was not previously advertised as an included feature. Fine, charge that dollar. I'll keep my Beta version until Lion comes out, which would probably have FaceTime included.
Xcode was included in previous versions of Mac OS X. At least to my knowledge, it was in Leopard and Snow Leopard as an optional install. So why are they charging $5 for upgrading to Xcode 4?
99/year is very low considering service, servers and Mac App Store visibility imho. Naturally better free than 5 dollars but anyway it is pretty cheap, cmon for a cool piece of software 5 dollars is nothing.
If you can keep using Facetime beta until Lion, you can keep using XCode 3 until Lion as well. And if they still charge for Xcode, after Lion, whine.
If this logic were true, then it'd make more sense if they distributed Xcode 4 like the Lion seed - you only gain access through your ADC account (so even though it's "free", not just anyone can grab it), but the download still happens on the Mac App store.
I thought so too. It comes as an optional install on your osX disc ?
Chances are 10.7 will be distributed via the Mac AppStore. Chances are also that the 'server tools' will be an additional charge, also via the App Store.
testing an App in my Iphone 4
Hello, I am interested in buying Xcode 4, as the price is NOTHING, 4 is 2 beers, come on !!
The thing is that I enrolled as a free developer account now and I saw I can download Xcode 3 for free, or Xcode 4 paid in the App Store.
Questions:
- if i free download Xcode 3, can I test my App in my iphone with my free developer account or do I need the iOS developer 99$ account?
- if i pay and download Xcode 4, can I test my App in my iphone with my free developer account or do I need the iOS developer 99$ account?
Hello, I am interested in buying Xcode 4, as the price is NOTHING, 4 is 2 beers, come on !!
The thing is that I enrolled as a free developer account now and I saw I can download Xcode 3 for free, or Xcode 4 paid in the App Store.
Questions:
- if i free download Xcode 3, can I test my App in my iphone with my free developer account or do I need the iOS developer 99$ account?
- if i pay and download Xcode 4, can I test my App in my iphone with my free developer account or do I need the iOS developer 99$ account?
Oh my goodness.
It costs almost as much as a beer.
In a village in Pensilvania I get a beer and a Hillbilly Burger for this price.
Yeah indeed. I don't really think this is about creating a roadblock for people who'll use bandwidth and not use the thing.
The likely scenario is that this will ship for free with Lion. And Apple charging 5$ is only for people who don't want to upgrade to Lion but want to upgrade to XCode 4. In which case, it's perfectly reasonable. So far the XCode releases did coincide with OS releases, so in a way, Apple sold XCode even when it was free because the new version didn't work with the old OS.
I don't think Apple will include 2.9 immediately in XCode. So I don't see it as surprising.
MacPorts.
http://www.macports.org/ports.php?by=name&substr=GCC
sudo port install gcc45, gcc46, gcc44, etc.
If one million people pay $5, that is $5 million dollars. Now matter how you look at it or slice it, $5 million dollars is a lot of money. It is not relative or anything else. By any standard or measure $5 million dollars is a lot of money.
Just nickel and dime your customer, Apple. It's not the dollar figure that will get people upset and everyone who is not a troll knows this...
In both cases, you need to pay 99$ to test on a physical device. The free Xcode 3 or the 4.99$ GougeCode 4 only lets you test on a simulator.
So all 500 people use xcode? Even if that's true, your company must be dirt poor, because $2500 for a 500 employee company is hardly breaking the bank.
Look, put this into perspective. Our MSDN licenses for the middle of the road versions cost about $1000 per year per person. Adobe CS is several grand per person every 2-3 years. Qt commercial licenses are $4000 per target OS, per seat, per year. Texas Instruments DSP compilers are a few grand per target per person. Xilinx and Altera tools can easily be several grand per seat. Autodesk tools are anywhere from $1000 to god knows what per seat. Hardware EDA tools and other engineering goodness can easily be up to 5 or 6 figures, per seat.
$5? Please stop.
Even $99 for a dev license is obscenely cheap, and where I am, the $499 enterprise license per year (that's for the WHOLE COMPANY) is obscenely cheap.
Part of the issue is probably just managing expectations and demand.
XC4 isn't even remotely ready for prime time. I spend about 10 minutes in it each release before I find a showstopper and have to go back to 3.2. It runs like a dog and for every good improvement over 3.x, there's an equally annoying feature that I don't like. I mean, the whole selling point was the tight integration between CLANG and the editor, and in the last two versions syntax highlighting and autocomplete have been completely borked.
Apple more than likely don't want every tom dick and harry going and downloading it if they're not going to use it. Xcode? 4GB? Free? Install!!!
Like the $99 barrier for a dev account, if you're interested in doing development, it's a no brainer.
And if all you want is a compiler, you can get one from macports instead.
If you're already familiar with LLVM and GCC you know how to build from source. I've got llvm-trunk on OS X 10.5 and Debian Linux building nightly.