Microsoft Learning Snacks

You may have guessed it already, but they're bite-sized videos for learning quite a few of Microsoft's products.

Click here for a full list of what's available, all that is required is Silverlight for viewing.

I'm currently watching the eleven videos for Windows 7, part of my studies for an upcoming certification exam, and they've been pretty good so far. And of course, they're free :)

Passed the Vista Exam

The exam went well, a 700 is need to pass and I achieved a 907; not too bad. Many of the questions covered the new features such as, Meeting Space, Windows Calendar, Defender and the beefed up Windows Firewall.

Interesting enough there were six simulations, some of which I went back and looked at for non-related questions, like firewall settings. They lock you into the various choices in the interface that one might use for the task; i.e. should you be in the Control Panel for a Windows Firewall question, you can't look at the Tablet PC Settings applet.

The testing site, A&A Computers, was acceptable and quiet, that is until a delivery person showed up in back and rang the bell incessantly. My exam also crashed while generating one of the simulations, I was an hour in at this point with 60% of the test completed. Luckily it saved all of my answers and picked up where I left off.

Now it's onto the 70-290 Windows 2003 Server exam. Why not Windows Server 2008? That down the road, but not far. But when you are a Microsoft Certified Trainer, you must pass the exams for the classes you want to teach, and I'm hoping to be as marketable as possible.

Mastering Windows Vista

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm studying for the 70-620 Configuring Vista certification exam. As part of this process, I've read 85% of Mark Minasi's book, Mastering Windows Vista Business. The book starts rather low tech, moves toward more work related topics and higher level information as the it progresses. It covers a lot of information, and at 1020 pages it should. I don't know if this was the best resource for studying for the Vista exam, but it was on my shelf waiting to be read. As I mentioned I only cleared 85% of the book, which is 867 pages, because the last section covers automated corporate deployment options with images, etc., which is not covered in the 70-620 exam; I was getting short on time and CBT CD to watch. All-in-all another good book by Mark Minasi, his easy style and readability makes all of his books great resources.

I've also watched 15+ hours of video using a CBT Nuggets product with James Conrad. This was quite the undertaking (3 hours the first day, then two 6 hour days), most of the content I was familiar with, but there were a few gems I may need for the exam or work in general. James is quite chatty, cracks himself up and sometimes makes some amusing metaphors and examples, one was (I'm paraphrasing), "Imagine having a three year old that just ate a box of Twinkies." I give this product a mild recommendation, as it was interesting most of the time and the presentation was definitely workable.

Additionally I've read free guides from ProProfs and took a couple of sample tests from MeasureUp. Both of which were worthwhile.

Now with all this time in, I'm feeling pretty good about passing the test, I'll know tomorrow afternoon for sure...

Vista Exam 70-620

I recently signed up for the Microsoft exam 70-620, Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client. To that end I've been reading Mark Minasi's Mastering Windows Vista. Now with just over 600 pages into the book, I'm still waiting to learn more about the administrative side of the OS. I'm a huge fan of his, with five of his other books in my collection and having seen him speak three times. He has a speaking style and humor that suites my personality and makes dry subjects enjoyable. The first half of the book seems suited for noobs, but now it seems to be moving into the more technical end of the pool, that actual stuff I need for the exam.

 With the exam approaching in two short weeks I hope to have this book finished along with my CBT from CBT Nuggets. I'll post when I finish the book and again when using the CBT. Now if I could just find the time to do all this (and play Project Gotham Racing).