Can someone give me some info on a couple things?

[zsuns]

I'm new to developing and stuff, so i need some info on a couple of things...

1.What is a "toolchain" when it comes to the iphone?

2.What do i need to develop apps after installing the toolchain onto my iphone?( i am on windows xp)

[NetMage]

The toolchain is the compiler and utilities that will convert source code into an iPhone compatible binary application file. It is based on the Gnu Compiler Toolkit.

Download the sample hello.app for the toolchain and get it working. You need a text editor for editting source code files, some type of graphics program for creating/modifying PNG files for icons and graphic resources, and an SSH file transfer or iPhoneBrowser type program for transferring files onto the iPhone for testing. Also an SSH terminal program like putty for debugging can be helpful. A tool for modifying file permissions on the phone (SSH again or MobileFinder) for setting your application up, and InfoZip under Cygwin if you want to create installer packages.

[zsuns]

The toolchain is the compiler and utilities that will convert source code into an iPhone compatible binary application file. It is based on the Gnu Compiler Toolkit.

Download the sample hello.app for the toolchain and get it working. You need a text editor for editting source code files, some type of graphics program for creating/modifying PNG files for icons and graphic resources, and an SSH file transfer or iPhoneBrowser type program for transferring files onto the iPhone for testing. Also an SSH terminal program like putty for debugging can be helpful. A tool for modifying file permissions on the phone (SSH again or MobileFinder) for setting your application up, and InfoZip under Cygwin if you want to create installer packages.

Alright, I installed the toolchain through the Cygwin thing, and it said toolchain succesfully installed, or something like that. Now, is this just on my iPhone, or is this something i actually interact with using the iPhone, kinda like an application?

[NetMage]

Neither one - the toolchain is a Windows program that produces programs to run on the iPhone, after you transfer them to the iPhone. This is really similar to Unix/Linux style development.

JLA has produced a pretty useful Blog on development and the first few articles may help you with some background.
iPhone Software Development: Archives

Also, the stickies in this forum have lots of other helpful information.