Does Apple's license for OS X allow it to be virtualized on an HP PC?

I have an HP laptop and I'm thinking about buying OS X and running it inside a virtual machine on the laptop.

Is running OS X inside virtual machine allowed by the license?

Lion is the first Mac OS X to license some virtualization on the non-server OS.

From the 10.7 EULA:

• (iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software.

Notice the condition, though: it's only allowed on Mac hardware when running Lion as the host OS. There are also provisions for installing it over Snow Leopard macs.

Running it on HP hardware would likely be a violation of the license as written. Check with your lawyer as always when the question of legality is involved since any license has to respect your local laws.

No. Apple expressly forbids running any Mac OS on a computer that is not made by Apple, under any circumstances.

What Apple does allow is running multiple instances of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion under a virtual machine on an Apple Macintosh computer that also runs Lion. This would not be of much use to a consumer; it is designed for use by developers and on servers for software testing and network implementation purposes.