Windows 7 - News about the Beta Exam!

herleson — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:12:00 GMT

Hi Friends,

Let´s talk about some news related to the topic of the moment: Windows 7. I wish to share with you some news about the beta exam 70-680, available since April 27th.

The first news is that this exam is the MOST CONCURRED OF HISTORY. When the registrations were open, ALL the seats were filled in ONLY TWO HOURS! Since this fact affected negatively Brazil, US and Europe professionals, Microsoft opened more seats at the same day.

One of our readers (Alex) commented that the Promocode doesn´t work anymore. This means that all seats are filled, again. In this case, unfortunately, Microsoft won´t open registration for this exam. For those how lost this registration, the only thing that they can do now is wait for the final release of this exam, which must happen in June.

However, there is a hope for IT Professionals who are already certified in Windows Vista. For professionals who have the Enterprise Support Technician credentials, Microsoft should release in May or June an upgrade exam. In this case, probably, there will be a beta phase.

If you still aren´t certified in Windows Vista, you´d better run! For those who holds the MCDST credentials in Windows XP can upgrade their credentials to Vista with only one exam.

The second news is about a problem that I crossed when I schedule my exam, and another reader of this blog commented: the Retake Policy Notification message that appears every time you choose a test center at Prometric´s site. Since this message comes without any text describing the details, many professionals don´t understand what the real problem is.

The explanation is quite simple: The Windows 7 beta exam will be realized between days 05 and 18 of May. However, this is a bed time for test centers, because this is the last month of Second Shot promotion. Many professionals scheduled their exam to May months ago, filling up all seats available in the test centers. So, when you select a test center and Prometric´s site returns this message, without any additional text, it means that the test center´s schedule is FULL.

For those who scheduled the exam successfully, great news: Microsoft provides the topics that will be covered by the exam. Two of these topics called my attention: Image Management (WIN Files, ImageX, etc.) and VHD Support. These topics were covered only in Windows Vista 70-622 exam. So, beware: this won´t be an easy exam!

The URL with the details about this exam and its topics is: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-680.aspx.

For those who live in Fortaleza (Ceará, Brazil), we will held a Microsoft Event focused on Windows 7 at May 8th. The presentation starts at 06:00PM, at Faculdade Evolução. You can already register and learn a little more about the features of this new OS. More details in the next post.

To finish, today (Thursday) we will share great news! You wanna know what is it? Visit my blog later and see by yourself!

Regards,

Microsoft Certification - The Second Shot is BACK!

herleson — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:45:00 GMT

Hi Friends,

I wanna share with you a great new for professionals that are preparing to take Microsoft certification’s exams: the SECOND SHOT is BACK! This announcement was being expected since the end of this promotion, in June 2008.

For those who don’t know about Second Shot, this promotion allows IT professionals and developers takes a second shot in a Microsoft Certification exam, if they haven’t being approved in the first attempt.

It means that you take an exam; if you were not approved, you can try it again by FREE!

This promotion has been helping many professionals to become certified professionals, because it allows to them an opportunity of look and feel the exam’s environment and take a first try. If approved, excellent. If not, the Professional gets out of the exam center knowing what topics must be reviewed, and be prepared for the approval in the second shot.

To participate is simple! First, you need to register at Microsoft site, at this URL: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/secondshot/default.mspx. After you register, you will receive a Promocode to use it at the schedule process in Prometric.

To schedule an exam, you can use one of the ways below:

Prometric’s site: http://www.2test.com/
Prometric’s Call center: 443-751-4300

The Second Shot started in August 5th 2008 and goes until June 30th 2009. In this period, you have to register, obtain an exam voucher, complete your first exam, and retake your exam (if you did not pass on your first attempt).

You can obtain more information and a good FAQ at the site of the promotion. The URL is: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/secondshot/default.mspx.

I almost forgot: this promotion is valid WORLDWIDE.

To end, I will be presenting an event about Microsoft Certification here in Ceará, showing to professionals the importance of the Certification to their careers. I’m thinking about create a webcast for my professional friends worldwide to reproduce the same presentation, but in English. What do you think? It´s a good idea?

So, don’t loss time! Register now and good luck!

Regards,

Herleson Pontes - IT Professional : Second Shot

Windows 7 - News about the Beta Exam!

Microsoft Certification - The Second Shot is BACK!