Many other people are also suggesting, and I would agree with them that come OS X Lion time Xcode will once again be shipped on the media that the OS comes on.

Many other people are also suggesting, and I would agree with them that come OS X Lion time Xcode will once again be shipped on the media that the OS comes on. I don't know what the future holds, I don't work at Apple, and if I did I am pretty sure I wouldn't be allowed to tell you. Sure we can speculate at this point, honestly I think that Xcode 3 has run its course and that Xcode 4 is the future. Xcode 4 being priced the way it is may be for tax reasons, Xcode 4 may be shipped with OS X Lion, Xcode 4 may later on be offered as a $50 package on the Mac App Store. We don't know. For now I hope, and tend to agree with people that Xcode 4 will be bundled with OS X Lion and at that point will be free once more.