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Steve revealed the new software during a Feb. 24 meeting with financial analysts. Stupid me, I didn't make the competitive connection: IBM's Lotus Foundations. Windows Server 2008 Foundation and Lotus Foundations target the same market segment: small businesses. Oh, yeah, IBM's server appliance runs Linux.

According to the channel marketing/promotional material I received: "Windows Server Foundation is an alternative to running open source (Linux) software."

Apparently, Microsoft already has salespeople promoting the new software—and there already is some small business confusion about Foundation versus Foundations. It's a tried-and-true strategy for Microsoft, which has used similar naming before. Personally, I hate similarly named products, but it's a practice widespread beyond Microsoft. Some Microsoft examples: Word, which took on WordStar and WordPerfect.

Similar naming convention causes product confusion, which can benefit something competing against something established. In this case, the upstart is hard to identify. Months-old Lotus Foundations competes against established Small Business Server. Perhaps Microsoft execs want to protect their turf against the IBM upstart. So it's the new versus the new.

I just have to digress, going on more about how effective can be similarly named products. Film studio The Asylum specializes in like naming for which it gains DVD rentals or sales. The misnaming is quite the successful business. Have you heard of these titles: "Snakes on a Train," "Transmorphers" or "The Da Vinci Treasure," playing off major studio releases "Snakes on a Plane," "Transformers" and "The Da Vinci Code"?

Microsoft has good reason to confuse customers. Lotus Foundations is an affordable Small Business Server alternative. SBS is a more managed approach, while Foundations, being an appliance, is more plug and play. Of course, both kinds of products have their place. Based on the marketing material, Windows Server Foundation requires less IT staff management.