Quick MCP question

[zulander]

Do Microsoft ever pull certain exams so you cant take them anymore?
Might be starting to study for some XP ones soon but dont want them pulling the plug and me wasting my time.

Cheers

[finlay666]

Why the XP exams?

They have pulled a couple of them that I was doing but replaced with newer ones e.g. adding .Net 3.5 features instead of .Net 2.0 or similar

[badass]

Do Microsoft ever pull certain exams so you cant take them anymore?
Might be starting to study for some XP ones soon but dont want them pulling the plug and me wasting my time.

Cheers

In short, yes. All exams eventually get pulled. I wouldn't waste my time with Windows XP - I'd get learning Windows 7 sharpish and get any Windows 7 related materials as soon as they came out. There will be a lot of demand for Windows 7 skills next year and then year after and not as much supply compared to XP.
This comes from a person with 2x MCSA+ Messaging (2000,2003) and 2x MCSE's (2000,2003) amongst other things who got paid £9000 last month for the months work

[rs4847]

Plenty of demand for XP skills yet, even 2k!

I'm studying 70-270 atm, when I have the time.

[zulander]

Yeah thats the one im thinking of doing ive been in IT for years but only at a basic level and im thinking i should at least get one in XP to show im at competent in that. Then if i can get a windows 7 or Office qualificaton then i might look a better candidate for employers if i start looking for another job again/

[badass]

Plenty of demand for XP skills yet, even 2k!

I'm studying 70-270 atm, when I have the time.

Demand for XP is for the skills, not the certification.

[rs4847]

Yeah thats the one im thinking of doing ive been in IT for years but only at a basic level and im thinking i should at least get one in XP to show im at competent in that. Then if i can get a windows 7 or Office qualificaton then i might look a better candidate for employers if i start looking for another job again/

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I do regret not doing the 2k client exam 70-210 when it was available.

Have you done any MS certs before? If you haven't I suggest looking at the MCDST for XP, 70-271 and 70-272 before tackling 70-270 as this will give you MCP and MCDST status and a slight jump on 270, you can also upgrade from MCDST to MCTS Vista – Configuration and MCITP: Enterprise Support and probably Win7 once they sort stuff out.

The MCDST is also an elective exam for MCSA 2k3 if you chose to go down that route.

Demand for XP is for the skills, not the certification.

True, however isn't better to have the piece of paper that backup your skills rather than not having it?

[badass]

True, however isn't better to have the piece of paper that backup your skills rather than not having it?

Absolutely. However a piece of paper saying you have passed a Windows 7 exam is worth far more next year to someone than one saying they have passed a Windows XP exam. 70-270 will certainly help getting a job, but 70-680 will stand out amongst all of the others looking for work.
There will be a huge demand for Windows 7 next year compared to the supply of skills so I was arguing that time is better spent getting ahead of the competition.