There is a way to launch services on demand. You can programmatically (and via sc.exe) query/stop/start services. It'd be no big deal for apps to start, check the license service, start if needed, and stop when exiting.

Are you saying the "high end" apps on Mac OS X don't install other processes for licensing?

Also, some of those license services allow floating licenses over the network -- maybe it's the same codebase?