> AmigaOS4.1 [...] has been tied to the purchase of hardware,
> except for the Pegasos2 and now Classic Amiga versions.

When the Sam440ep was released in October 2007 it still took Hyperion one year for a first OS4.1 version to be released for it:

http://www.acube-systems.biz/index.php?page=news&id=15
http://www.acube-systems.biz/index.php?page=news&id=38

Up until April 2009, i.e. for 1.5 years overall, the Sam440ep (non-"industrial") was available also without OS4.1:

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=6490&forum=3&start=11

That's why OS4.1 for Sam440ep(-flex) is still on sale today:

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=839