"May I use 70-620 as an MCSE elective?" and other FAQ about Vista cert exams

This is going to be long and ugly, but hopefully functional. These questions came from the Vista live meeting in early December (find the recording on this page).

If I understand correctly you can use the 620 exam as a CLIENT elective instead of XP in MCSE/MCSA certification

Yes, and this will be updated soon on the microsoft.com/learning site...<ADDING MORE DETAIL ON JANUARY 12>70-620 will satisfy the client elective for both MCSA and MCSE (on both 2000 and 2003) as will 70-210 (Windows 2000 Pro) and 70-270 (Windows XP Pro). It can also satisfy the elective requirement for MCSA and MCSE (on both 2000 and 2003) as long as the candidate does not use it as both their client elective and a general elective – it can satisfy one or the other but not both.

 

can I use 70-621 as an elective for MCSE?

No...upgrade exams may not be used as electives. If you want to upgrade your MCDST and work on the MSCE, I would take the long road to MCITP: Enterprise by taking 620 and 622.

 

What about other Vista exams as electives?

exams 621, 622, and 623 may not be used as MCSA or MCSE electives because they are Pro/Job Role exams. Exam 624 is a TS exam and may be used to satisfy the general elective requirement for MCSA and MCSE on 2003 only.

 

Is there any new certification about security?

Moving forward, Security will be incorporated into all of our individual exams and we will move away from covering Security as a separate topic/path.

How different are the scope and limitations of the Consumer and the Enterprise Technologies?

About 70% of the materials is common to both. The 30% delta is home networking, media center edition, media center extenders, xbox integration, etc...

Will there be something special for Vista deployment (like 74-139 was) ?

Yes. The Vista Deployment exam (70-624) will be out in Mar/April time frame.

Will The 70-620 Expire also, or only the 70-622 and 70-623?

The Vista TS certification (which you get by passing exam 70-620) will expire when mainstream product support from Microsoft for Windows Vista expires. The Pro credentials you get by passing 622 and 623 will require re-certification every three years.

Which examination in Vista Windows is similar to 70-270?

620

is it too late to become a charter member? are you supporting that program for Vista?

no charters for vista, exchange, and office...

Is the vista 70-620 exam valid for all editions of business vista

Yes

is 70-620 required before you take 70-622

yes

What will be the cost for the 620 ?

 exams are still priced at $125 US - with some differences depending on region. You'll have to check with your local test center to confirm the costs. T

I have 290 which do I need to do before doing the 620 + 622

 not related -- so you can start right with 620 and 622.