Michael Dell said Monday that Dell Inc. would begin shipping Windows 10 PCs to customers on July 29, even though Microsoft seems to be saying otherwise.
On Twitter, Dell reiterated his company’s commitment to the ship date, which the PC maker had previously committed to in mid-June, about a month ago.
.@markhachman Yes. We are ready http://t.co/1Q8T21x5Dn
— Michael Dell (@MichaelDell) July 13, 2015
Microsoft has made lofty promises about Windows 10 PCs. “A build of Windows 10 will be delivered to our OEM partners soon so they can start imaging new devices with Windows 10,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email last Thursday. “We expect several OEM partners to have Windows 10 devices available for sale on July 29, including Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Acer with many, many more devices to follow in the coming weeks and months.”
To hear Microsoft say it, everything was hunky-dory. “We are excited to be working with our OEM partners to see Windows 10 innovations light up on these new devices,” the spokesperson continued.
By Monday, the story took a different turn. At a Microsoft event, executives said PC makers would not have PCs with Windows 10 preinstalled on store shelves by the time of the Windows 10 launch.
Dell Inc. said in June that customers could begin preordering Windows 10 devices that would ship with Windows 10 installed on July 29. They would include Inspiron desktops, the Dell Inspiron 11 2-in-1 PC, the Inspiron 15 laptop, and the XPS 8700 desktop. Dell Inc. also said that systems could be ordered with one-day shipping, so that customers would have them in hand on July 30.
Why this matters: It wasn’t known whether PC makers like Dell would simply be selling preorders for Windows 10 PCs on July 29. Now, it appears that at least one PC maker believes everything will be good to go, no matter what Microsoft says.