Actually I think you've got that completely backwards. Apple customers who pirate the new version probably would have bought it if there were no torrents -- hence apple is hurt. Someone who uses Mac OS on a generic box would probably have never bought a Mac -- but they increase Apple's mindshare and give them the reputation of having the best OS. If a huge clump of techies start using MacOS their non-techie friends will think a) Macs are cool and b) it's much easier to buy a Mac then to do all the crap needed to make MacOS run on a generic machine.

This will enable broke students to give Macs a try. Once they have jobs they may purchase Macs. Also a lot of the Windows centric mindset will break down.