Microsoft said PC makers would likely miss the Windows 10 launch party, but HP said Wednesday consumers will indeed be able to have a shiny new Windows 10 PC in their hands on the launch date—as long as they order them now.

“Customers can go buy Windows 10 machines on HP.com right now and you’ll have them on July 29th,” said HP’s Mike Nash, VP of product strategy and customer experience for HP personal systems.

But those who want to waltz into a retail store and pick one up will have to wait a bit. Nash said only “select” retailers would have HP computers with Windows 10 preloaded by August 2.

Why this matters: Microsoft poured some cold water on the highly anticipated OS launch this Monday by saying that it doubted PCs with the new OS would be available by the time the OS launches. That caused CEO Michael Dell to chirp up a day later that, umm, no, we’ll hit it

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