News
The Accidental MCSE
Are you an NT 4.0 MCSE who has passed most, but not all, of the seven required exams for your Windows 2000 MCSE? If so, you may have achieved your Win2K certification without even knowing it.
Microsoft recently made a change to its Win2K MCSE requirements, allowing
older NT 4.0 exams to count as electives. That means if you’ve passed
the core four and your design elective, you can use up to two of your
older electives toward your Win2K MCSE. The exams that count are in the
chart below.
The decision to include the older exams as electives was based on their
relevance to Win2K technologies, according to Dan Truax, manager for Microsoft’s
certification strategy group. “We try to keep electives that are still
applicable to the right products,” Traux said. For instance, your knowledge
of TCP/IP in NT is still useful for Win2K, so the TCP/IP exam can be used
as an elective.
None of the tests included in the chart are core exams. “What won’t count
is the core. We want to keep core integrity,” Truax said.
The decision to include some older electives valid for the Win2K MCSE
track was made at the same time Microsoft decided to version its certifications
and not decertify NT 4.0 CSEs. It also signals a further change in how
Redmond views the importance of exams that deal with technology that’s
no longer cutting edge but still has value in a majority of businesses.
| Exam
Number |
Title |
| 70-013 |
Implementing and Supporting Microsoft
SNA Server 3.0 |
| 70-018 |
Implementing and Supporting Microsoft
Systems Management Server 1.2 |
| 70-026 |
System Administration for Microsoft
SQL Server 6.5 |
| 70-027 |
Implementing a Database Design on
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 |
| 70-059 |
Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP
on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 |
| 70-076 |
Implementing and Supporting Microsoft
Exchange Server 5 |
| 70-087 |
Implementing and Supporting Microsoft
Internet Information Server 4.0 |
| 70-078 |
Implementing and Supporting Microsoft
Proxy Server 1.0 |
| 70-079 |
Implementing and Supporting Microsoft
Internet |
|
The page that lists the Win2K MCSE requirements can be found at www.microsoft.com/traincert/mcp/mcse/requirements.asp.
Truax said that Microsoft will also be posting information on the inclusion
of the older electives on its certification FAQ page at www.microsoft.com/traincert/mcpexams/faq/default.asp.
About the Author
Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.