14 DAY TRIAL // Alongside two new developer releases of OS X this week, Apple has rolled out Xcode 4.4 GM (Golden Master), a near-final build of the company’s latest coding toolset for OS X and iOS developers.
The Xcode 4.4 changelog has been leaked in the wild. The literature discusses “new features and issues present in Xcode 4.4 GM seed and issues resolved from earlier Xcode releases,” according to a post at 9to5mac.com.
The text starts off with Xcode 4.4 GM Seed Supported Configurations, or the system requirements, as regular users would say. The updated toolset installs only on OS X 10.8 GM and OS X 10.7.4.
Apple specifically notes that Xcode 4.4 doesn’t run on earlier versions of OS X, such as OS X 10.7.3, or older betas of Mountain Lion.
The package supports development for iOS 5.1, OS X 10.8, and OS X 10.7, and does not support attempts to code an iOS 6 app, it seems.
Installation is fairly simple, with Apple telling developers that this single application bundle can be installed by opening the downloaded DMG file and dragging Xcode44-DP7.app to their Applications folder.
“Within Xcode, you can launch additional developer tools, such as Instruments and FileMerge, via the menu item Xcode > Open Developer Tool,” Apple explains. “You can then keep the tool in your Dock for access when Xcode is not running.”
The release notes end with a few Technical Support and Learning Resources (reproduced below):
Apple offers a number of resources where you can get Xcode development support:
• http://developer.apple.com: The Apple Developer website is the best source for up-to-date technical documentation on iOS and OS X.
• http://developer.apple.com/xcode: The Xcode home page on the Apple Developer website provides information on the developer tools.
• http://devforums.apple.com: The Apple Developer Forums feature a dedicated Developer Forum for Xcode developer previews.
Developers are encouraged to use the company’s bug reporting tool at http://bugreport.apple.com to communicate any issues they may encounter during testing.
Dev program participants are to include detailed information of any issue, “including the system and developer tools version information, and any relevant crash logs or console messages.”
Xcode 4.4 is available as a free download to all people enrolled with Apple's Developer Program from the company's Dev Center.