On HP's earnings call today CEO Meg Whitman told reporters that the company "will be well positioned on Windows 8 x86 by the holidays" — confirming that the world's largest PC maker will release a product that runs the new operating system by years' end. With HP's less-than-stellar quarter, the CEO noted the company's dependance on Windows, saying that the better Windows 8 is, the better the computer manufacturer will do. While Windows 8 availability isn't yet known, it's expected to be released around October of this year. Meg Whitman hopes Microsoft sticks to that schedule, saying that "we're rooting for a fantastic Windows 8 product that's out on time for holiday." The CEO only mentioned x86 systems, so it's not known if the company has any plans to join Microsoft in support of low-powered ARM chips in Windows 8.