[dayglored]

> ...sell macOS licenses to all comers...

Much as I like it, there are two killer problems with that suggestion, that will (IMO) forever keep Apple from doing so:

1. Main reason: Apple is a HARDWARE manufacturer, not a software vendor. They sell integrated SYSTEMS of hardware plus software. They "give away" the software because they need to sell the hardware.

2. Other reason: The price of MacOS would be too high for most interested users. MacOS comes with a bunch of large applications (by contrast, Windows does not come with MS-Office), so either Apple would cut those features from the OS to sell it at a Windows-competitive price, or charge something equivalent to Windows+Office. And of course, Linux is free and LibreOffice is free. So where's the profit in selling MacOS at a reasonable price? Non-existent.

There's no way Apple will let MacOS loose on Hackintoshes, much less hardware-free VMs.

I say the above with some sadness, because I'd LOVE to see them do it. But it ain't gonna happen.

[RegulatorCountry]

They tried licensing in a limited way back in the day, not a stellar experience. I owned one, by Power Computing of Round Rock, TX. They won’t go there again.

[zeugma]

Other reason: The price of MacOS would be too high for most interested users.

Probably for most users. I'd be willing to pay almost as much as a basic Mac Mini for one though. I'm probably not representative of the average person though.

You're right. We'll probably not see it any time soon, but I can still dream!