> I kinda assumed that I could just type "macos vm image" into Google and download an official image for VMWare, VirtualBox, Hyper-V or whatever from Apple's website.
That's how it works with Windows and obviously Linux. Why would a company not want to make it as easy as possible for people to try out, develop for and test on their OS?
Because their official stance is "there is no try. Buy a mac if you want to develop for mac". MacOS on any non-apple hardware is against the EULA so any VM you find is technically illegal. The OS sold on USB sticks for a while, but that stopped: the only way you get MacOS now is by buying a mac, and then using the app store to get new versions of MacOS when they come out.
"You may use the software in the virtual hard disk image only to demonstrate and internally evaluate it. You may not use the software for commercial purposes. You may not use the software in a live operating environment."
"b. You may use the software for testing purposes only. You may not use the software for commercial purposes. You may not use the software in a live operating environment."
This was for a non-commercial hobby project and there was no actual development involved.
Even if using a Windows VM in that way violated some Microsoft license, I don't think I'd care much. It's not like Microsoft is gonna sue an individual using one of their VMs for an hour over some licensing technicality. I'm sure they'd care if this was in a commercial setting (and then I'd actually care about the license), but for personal, non-commercial use, I don't see it. Worst case scenario I'd actually buy a Windows license. At least for me, this is more about the technical ability to run an OS in a VM than about the legal details behind it.
What gave you that idea?