New A+ Exams, can someone give me the details?

[drakek]

Heres the story... I want to get my A+ in the next couple weeks. I am not sure what is going on with these tests though? There is new revisions and such, can somebody clear up what exactly I would be expected to know if I was to schedule an appointment for say Nov 20? Would the OS test be based on the old tests or would it include Win2k? If it is based on the old tests them Im sure I will ace them. Its so frickin hard to decifer anything from the comptia.org webpage. I plan on calling for an appointment on Monday the 6th (Nov).

http://www.comptia.org/certification/index.htm

Thank you for any replies

 

[drakek]

Anyone..... Please

 

[Tripleshot]

I had heard they where goingto drop Dos and Win 3.1 and put more emphesis on Win 98 and Melinium. I could be wrong though.

 

[JW310]

From what I've heard, yes, they are going to be dropping DOS and some of the Win 3.1 stuff.... Win98 will still be on the exam, along with some Win2k and some Linux. For more information about the revisions, go to CompTIA's webpage (CompTIA is the organization that makes up the A+ exams).

They are going to be beta testing the new exams starting on the 22nd, with the new exams going into full effect as of January 31, 2001.

For specific links as to what they plan on having on the new exams, here you are:
A+ Core Hardware exam revisions (PDF file)
A+ OS exam revisions (PDF file)

These two files give a general idea of what to expect the new exams to be based on. There isn't much else on CompTIA's webpage right now, as they're still trying to decide the best way to make the changes, I believe.

Hope this helped you out!

[edit] So to clear up my answer to your question, if you are able to sign up to take the exams on November 20, you should be taking the current exam, rather than the revised exams. Sign up soon, so you're not caught in the middle of the beta testing [/edit]

[edit 2] Looks like you'll be able to take the current exams up until the new ones go into full affect at the end of January 2001. Just read in the beta testing FAQ's that the current exams will be available while they are doing the beta testing. Also, looks like they're offering the beta tests for a reduced fee..... $68 for each test, and if you pass both the core and the OS test, you become certified. Might be worth it to give the beta tests a shot for the reduced fee, and you might even do well enough on them to become certified. [/edit 2]


JW

 

[drakek]

JW310:

Thanks very much for clearing things up.

Now I have to decide if I want to do the Beta test. I am very familiar with Win2k but although I have Linux installed I really have to get into it more.

 

[JW310]

I think Linux may not be included in the 2001 exams, now that I read it over a little more in depth... I just read through some of the Revision FAQ's and one of them was a question regarding Linux... basically it said that Linux will not be included on the 2001 exams. So my statement above was wrong in saying that it will include Linux. But they will have Win2k.

JW