Surprising number of credentials

In digging up the info on this, the first in my series of four MCTS and MCITP Vista-related 70-620 practice test that I’ll be covering over the next week or so, I discovered that Microsoft has finally changed the format for its exam pages. I’ve been tuning into these documents since the late 1990s and it’s nice to see that they’ve finally gotten a facelift (looking at the source, I can see that MS has switched from HTML 4.01 to XHTML 1.0, and the markup looks programmatically generated, but I can’t find any evidence for the tools used to generate it except the file extension .aspx which would indicate is involved). If you take a quick look at the 70-620 exam, you’ll see exactly what I mean.

The 70-620 counts toward a surprising number of credentials:

Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Consumer Support Technician
Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Enterprise Support Technician
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) on Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Enterprise Administrator

Around the Microsoft Learning offices in Redmond, you'll hear people refer to something called "Big Vista". This isn't a larger version of our newest operating system. It's our affectionate nickname for the first of the new Vista certification exams, 70-620: Configuring Windows Vista Client, which went live several months ago. But why "Big Vista"?

First of all, it's a big exam, covering 7 functional groups and over 30 objectives. Second, it's the all-important gateway to any Vista certification. A candidate who passes the 70-620 exam immediately earns their Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Vista, Configuration certification. After the MCTS, candidates can go on to earn their Microsoft Certified IT Professional certification in one of two tracks: Windows Vista Enterprise Support Technician or Windows Vista Consumer Support Technician. Third, and perhaps most exciting to us all, is that "Big Vista" has a very big customer base. This will no doubt be one of the most popular Microsoft certification exams, following in the tradition of the Windows XP 70-270 exam.

You'd figure that an exam called "Big Vista" deserves a study guide big enough to cover all the exam objectives. And comprehensive enough to thoroughly prepare readers to pass the exam and excel in the desktop support technician job role. Well, that's exactly what we've done with Microsoft Press's newest Training Kit -- MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-620): Configuring Windows Vista(tm) Client. The 70-620 Training Kit, which makes its debut in early May, includes everything a candidate needs to study for free Microsoft exam questions and pass the Vista MCTS exam. The book includes complete coverage of all exam objectives, over 400 lesson review and practice test questions, real-world best practices, and a 15% discount voucher for the exam.