Probably can't do MCDST before its retirement - alternatives?

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I probably can't attempt the 2 MCDST exams before their retirement (for various reasons) - so what Microsoft cert could I do instead during '11?

 

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You could do the MCTS and MCITP certifications for Vista and/or Win7.

 

So 70-680 is entry level since 70-271 is retired??

 

So that would be Exam 70-620 for Vista?

 

I wouldn't count the 70-680 as entry level. If I were an administrator (which I'm nowhere near so I could be talking out of my @ss) I wouldn't let someone loose on my system because they had the 70-680 under their belt if they had nothing else to show experience/cert wise. MS tend to make their exams cumulative, ie anyone passing the 70-680 will be expected to have pretty much all the basic skills required to pass the 70-620 since there is practically no difference in the two OSs at workgroup level. 70-680 focuses on differences between Vista and W7 plus a lot of W7 Enterprise/Ultimate features which only match up to server 2008 (R2 mainly) features.

 

I never said 70-680 was an entry-level exam, nor did the OP state that they were looking for an entry-level exam. They said that they were looking for an alternative to the MCDST. The Vista and Win7 MCTS and MCITP exams are really the only alternatives, though they don't correspond directly to the MCDST.

 

Yep it seems that the MCTS and/or MCITP are the only alternatives although you could do the 70-270.

Allegedly the vista exam is easy when compared to the Windows 7 exam although I havent looked at it myself but from what I have seen of the Windows 7 exam it is pretty indepth when it comes to the inner workings of the OS as opposed to how the OS does something etc.

 

MCTS and MCITP are or will be the only certs available to kind of replace MCDST, but the exams for 20-680 and 20-620 are more in-depth compared to 20-271 and 20-272 , they have simulations to do which you don’t have in MCDST , I suppose Microsoft have made things a little different for the exams for Vista and Win7 and yet after all that they couldn’t put together a decent OS like XP.

 

I'm leaning towards 70-270, I've actually got some books for that exam from the days before I was aware of Certforums (and was aiming for the MCSE ).

Given that I've also done some studying for 70-271/2, before having to change my plans.