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A Dozen SQL and Developer Exams To Be Retired in 2009
Microsoft blogger lists 12 exams for SQL Server 2000 and Visual Studio .NET 2002 and 2003 that will retire soon after support for those products ends.
A number of exams that count toward the MCDBA, MCAD and MCSD titles will sail into the sunset in 2009. This according to a Microsoft blog post from Trika Harms zum Spreckel, a member of the marketing team in the Microsoft Learning Group.
Twelve exams make up the unofficial list, according to her post, but explained that the group has yet to finalize the list and make it definitive. "We'll include a notice in the MCP newsletter when it is published and official," she wrote. (To see the unofficial list, see Trika's blog post here.)
Microsoft's official word is that exams face retirement fairly soon after mainstream product support ends, and that the company will provide time to make certificate holders aware of the retirements through advanced notice. Mainstream support for SQL Server 2000 ends on April 8, 2008, while support for the Visual Studio .NET family version 2002 ended last summer, with the 2003 versions ending Oct. 14, 2008.
MCDBA, MCAD and MCSD .NET certificate holders will continue to retain their titles and do not need to recertify.
To view Microsoft's software support lifecycle policy, click here.
About the Author
Michael Domingo has held several positions at 1105 Media, and is currently the editor in chief of Visual Studio Magazine.