Registration for exam 1Z0-144 (Oracle Database 11g: Program with PL/SQL) also began last month, on April 15, with the beta period running from May 14 to Aug. 15. The $50 exam is three-and-a-half hours long in beta and consists of between 180 and 220 questions. Primary topic areas are "Oracle Database 11g: Oracle Database 11g: PL/SQL Fundamentals" and "Oracle Database 11g: Develop PL/SQL Program Units."
In case you missed it, registration for exam 71-680 (TS: Windows 7, Configuring) began on April 27, with the beta period running from May 5 to May 18.
Those who pass the beta exam (after the cut-off score is determined) won't need to take the exam when it goes live. It also counts as credit toward the MCTS certification in Windows 7. Testing is available through Prometric centers, and the exam -- which is free in beta -- is four hours long. You can go here for more information: http://blogs.technet.com/betaexams/archive/2009/04/15/register-for-beta-exam-71-680-ts-windows-7-configuring.aspx
Bill Gates, the heart, soul and certainly the public face of Microsoft
since its inception, took a moment at the Tech-Ed developer's
conference this week to bid farewell.
Officially launched January 4, 2007, Exam 70-620: Microsoft Windows Vista, Configuring earns MCTS: Windows Vista, Configuration certification.
The certification is aimed at technical staff having at least a year of experience providing phone support in organizations ranging from retail stores to enterprise-scale environments.
Microsoft recommends candidates have experience
To successfully pass the 70-620 exam, candidates must demonstrate proficiency
Technology professionals must also demonstrate expertise configuring
Further, candidates must also prove their ability to maintain and optimize Vista performance.
Read more here.
Microsoft and some independent security researchers had the blogosphere buzzing Wednesday over a series of denunciations after one company claimed that Vista was more vulnerable to malware and other exploits than previous operating systems.
Late last week, a study by Sydney, Australia-based anti-virus concern PC Tools suggested that although Vista was an improvement over Windows XP in respect to system fortitude, it is more easily encroached upon by malware and other exploits than Windows 2000.
PC Tools found that for every 1,000 machines running Vista, 639 suffered from cases of malware in varying degrees. Among machines running Windows 2000, 586 were found compromised; for Windows 2003, 478.
Read the full article here: Vista Vulnerability Study Puts Microsoft on Defensive
Microsoft's Learning Group closes beta testing on several new Windows Server 2008 exams, with release soon after the software launches next month.
Windows Server 2008 rounds the corner toward release at the end of next month. And the Microsoft Learning Group, for its part, has been keeping pace with new exams that are slated to be generally available at Prometric testing centers soon after the software hits shelves. According to blog posts from Trika Harms zum Spreckel, a member of the marketing team in the Microsoft Learning Group, MCPs will see a healthy mix of MCTS and MCITP exams in the weeks to come.
The MCITP: Enterprise Administrator title, on the other hand, requires a bit more network design-based expertise and an understanding of network infrastructure in the context of the enterprise. So, Microsoft makes the bar for obtaining this title a bit higher, with candidates having to pass at least four of the following MCTS level exams: 70-640, 70-642, 70-643 and 70-620 TS: Windows Vista, Configuring or 70-624 TS: Deploying Vista and Office Desktops (70-620 and 70-624 have been available since soon after the release of Vista last year). Over on the Professional level, candidates finally have need to pass one more exam, 70-647, to obtain MCITP nirvana.
