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After sending me a note that led me to believe that Microsoft had decided to veer from its original plan of an R2 update followed by a full-fledged Server update, a Microsoft spokeswoman called on August 18 to tell me that her note to me was misleading.

So, scratch that Friday evening post. Microsoft is still doing what it had led folks to believe up until this point: A release called Windows Server 2008 R2 is still on the books (now officially slated for 2010). And there will be some release two years after that which may or may not be called Windows 7 Server. (Microsoft currently won’t say anything about the planned naming for this release.)

And just to keep things extra confusing, the spokeswoman told me that if and when anyone hears references to “Windows 7 Server,” what they really mean is “Windows Server 2008 R2.” In other words, the codename for the Windows Server 2008 R2 release is “Windows 7 Server” — which, based on previous Microsoft naming conventions, should be the codename for the release that comes out after Windows Server 2008 R2…. Yeah….

A comment sent to me by an anonymous reader, good old anonymous@anonymous.com this morning makes more sense now. (Note to reader: Why anonymous? If you don’t want me to use your name in a posting, I won’t.)

“Okay, I don’t know how someone on our side could have miscommunicated this or if you are purposely reporting this incorrectly, but let’s be clear on this: Windows 7 Server is and has always been Windows Server 2008 R2.