Yesterday, my colleague Daniel Hass (Macastic blog) from Open Line and I have both passed the “OS X Server Essentials 10.8″ exam with scores of over 90%. Because we had already passed the “OS X Support Essentials 10.8″ exam, we’ve earned the title “Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.8” in addition to the “Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.8” title. I prepared for the exam by:
In my opinion the exam was relatively easy. It was key to read the questions and answers very well though.
If I have some time, I’ll try to make a summary similar to the one I did for the “OS X Support Essentials 10.8” exam.
Tags: ACSP, ACTC, Apple, Apple Certified Support Professional, Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.8, Apple Certified Technical Coordinator, Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.8, certification, Exam, LAI, LAI.NL, Learning Associates International, Mountain Lion, OS X 10.8, OS X Server Essentials 10.8, OS X Support Essentials 10.8, OSX Server 10.8
Tags: 070-410, 070-411, 070-412, 070-413, 070-414, 070-417, 70-410, 70-411, 70-412, 70-413, 70-414, 70-417, blog, blog post, Born To Learn, certification, Exam, forum, learn, Learning, Microsoft, microsoft learning, Microsoft Virtual Academy, MVA, preparation, preparation resources, resources, Server 2012 Virtual Labs, Tweakers, Tweakers.net, Virtual Academy, virtual lab, virtual labs, wiki, Windows, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012
After the recent flood of Microsoft product releases, a lot of new exams have been released as well.
Even though I’ve been able to pass quite a number of these exams in beta, I still failed some of them unfortunately. Since I’m planning to retake these exams, I’ll take advantage of the second shot program. Should I fail again, which I don’t hope … at least I’ll still have a free retake.
So if you’re planning to take some exams in the near future take a look at the second shot program and the Microsoft certification packs that provide discounts.
Tags: certification, Exam, Fail, Free, Microsoft, Pass, Prometric, retake, Second Shot, second shot program, Voucher
As I already wrote in yesterday’s post Apple – Notes / summary for the “Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam”, I’ve mainly been working with Microsoft products all my life. Since recently however, I’m also trying to get more familiar with Apple, Mac products and OS X and am trying to become certified.
One of the reasons, I’d never used Apple products before was because I never really deemed it necessary. Nowadays the number of Mac users seem to be growing and there is more demand for people with Mac / OS X knowledge.
As such my quest for knowledge and certification began. For me personally this meant:
- Using Apple online resources
- Reading books (mainly the great book Apple Pro Training Series: OS X Support Essentials. Before purchasing, you might also want to look for coupon codes as it might save you 30% off or more.)
- Watching computer based training (CBT) videos
- Working with OS X (thanks go out to my employer Open Line for providing me with a MacBook Pro, books and most importantly … TIME)
- Personally I didn’t think it was necessary to take a course at a training center, but some people might prefer this.
- Asking colleagues for help (thanks guys !!!)
- Making sure that I understood everything and if it wasn’t the case, look it up.
- Taking notes / creating this summary blog post that can be used as a reference if needed
- Testing my knowledge using test questions from Revise IT
I’ve taken the exam last friday and passed with 92.5%. Even though I think it was a pretty good score, I still had to make some educated guesses. This made me realize that there’s still a lot to learn and that getting more experience is important as well.
I also want to mention that I took the exam at LAI the training institute for IT professionals in Schiedam (The Netherlands). They were really kind, helpful and service oriented. The waiting area and test room were great and they even provided a pastry and all kind of drinks at no charge. This has been my best test taking experience to date, so keep up the good work guys.
I’m looking forward to attending the OS X Server 10.8 course at LAI the training institute for IT professionals at the end of March. I’ll try to create another blog post about this as well.
But now back to the important stuff, here are my notes/summary. I hope it is useful. If you find any errors or have any suggestions, please leave a comment.
Notes / summary for the “OS X Support Essentials 10.8 Exam”
Read the rest of this entry »
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People that know me, know that I’ve mainly been working with Microsoft my whole life. Lately however, I’ve been working with an Apple MacBook Pro with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion however and I intend to enough knowledge and experience to get the following certifications:
- Apple Certified Associate – Mac Integration 10.8
- Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.8
- Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.8
So keep an eye on my blog if you want to learn more about Apple’s Mac OS X and its certifications. Read more about other Apple certifications on their Training and Certification page.
The “Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam”
For people new to Mac and OS X, Apple offers the Associate certification for Mac Integration. This covers OS X basics and describes options to integrate OS X into an existing (Windows) environment. The exam costs $65 and can be taken online.
Even though the guide that Apple provides isn’t that big to begin with, I decided to summarize it anyways. I hope it is useful to someone else as well.
Also if you want to get more in-depth knowledge about OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, check out this great book: Apple Pro Training Series: OS X Support Essentials. Before purchasing, you might also want to look for coupon codes as it might save you 30% off or more.
Notes / summary for the “Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam”
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ACSP, ACTC, AFP, App Store, Apple, Apple Certified Associate, Apple Certified Associate - Mac Integration 10.8, Apple Certified Support Professional, Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.8, Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC), Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.8, Apple Filing Protocol, Apple ID, Apple Mac OS X, Associate certification for Mac Integration, authentication, Bonjour, Boot Camp, Calendears, CardDAV, certification, certify, CIFS, Cisco IPSec, Contacts, Cross Platform, encryption, Exam, Exchange, eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, File Sharing, FileVault, Finder, FTP, Gatekeeper, HP Jetdirect, iCloud, IMAP, Instant Messaging, Internet Printing Protocol, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, IPP, IPsec, iTunes, Jabber, Keynote, L2TP, LDAP, Library Randomization, Line Printer Daemon, LPD, mac, Mac App Store, Mac Integration Basics 10.8, Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam, Mac OS X, Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, mail, Messages, Migration Assistant, NFS, notes, Numbers, Open Directory, OS X, OS X 10.8, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, Pages, Parallels, Parallels Desktop, POP, PPTP, Preferences, Printing, QuickTime, Sandboxing, Server Message Block, SMB, summary, System Preferences, Time Machine, virtualization, VMware, VMware Fusion, VPN, WebDAB, XMPP
Last week I got a beta exam invite for exam “70-688 Managing and Maintaining Windows 8” (in beta it is 71-688). As with most beta exams lately, you only have max two weeks to prepare and there are no books available yet that you can use to study. Therefore I start with looking at what skills are being measured and if there are preparation guides available. From there on I start looking for relevant learning resources for each subject and adding them to the skills that are being measured for easy future reference.
I hope it is useful for you as well.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 070-688, 071-688, 70-688, 71-688, ACT, Action center, AEM, Agentless Exception Monitoring, App-V, App-V 5.0, application compatibility toolkit, application reputation, Application Virtualization, Applocker, asset, asset inventory, authentication, Azure, backup, bcdboot, bcdedit, Beta, biometrics, BitLocker, BranchCache, certificate, client hype-rv, CMAK, computer inventory report, ConfMgr, ConfMgr 2012, ConfMgr2012, Connection Manager, Connection Manager Administration Kit, DaRT, DaRT 8, DCA, DEM, deployment strategy, Desktop Error Monitoring, Diagnostic and Recovery Toolkit, DirectAccess, DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant, disk image, disk image backup, DISM, DNSSEC, domain, EAS, EFS, EHD, Encrypted Hard Drive, Encrypting File System, Endpoint Protection, Exam, Exchange Active Sync, Exchange Activesync, file history, find and fix problems with devices, Firewall, folder redirection, group policy, hardware, hardware and devices troubleshooter, high-touch, Hyper-V, image, IPv4, IPv6, Learning, learning resource, learning resources, lite-touch, Live Mesh, live service, live services, LiveMesh, local account, Managing and Maintaining Windows 8, MBAM, MDOP, MDOP 2011 R2, metered network, metering, metro application, microsoft account, Microsoft Application Virtualization, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Bitlocker Administration and Monitoring, Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, migrate, migration, mobile, mobile device, mobile device management, multifactor authentication, name resolution, native boot, Near Field Communication, network, network metering, NFC, off-network, Office 365, Office 365 Desktop Setup, offline files, Packaged App, PC refresh, PC reset, picture password, Powershell, PowerShell Remoting, prep guide, preparation, preparation guide, prepare, print management, printer, rdp, RDS, Recimg, Recimg.exe, recovery drive, recovery media, remote access, remote desktop protocol, Remote Desktop Services, Remote Server Administration Tools, RemoteApp, removable storage devices, report, roaming profiles, roaming user profiles, RSAT, SCCM 2012, SCCM2012, Secure SIM, security, shim, sideload, sideloader, Skydrive, Skydrive Pro, smart card, Software Restriction Policies, SRP, Storage Spaces, study, Sync center, System Center, System Center 2012, System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection client, System Center Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager 2012, System Center Desktop Error Monitoring, System Center Endpoint Protection, system restore, trust, trust relationship, Trusted PC, two-factor authentication, UE-V, upgrade, upgrade path, User Experience Virtualization, user state migration tool, usmt, VDI, vhd, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, virtual hard disk, virtualization, VPN, wet, Windows, Windows 7 file recovery, Windows 8, windows 8 application, Windows 8 FIle History, Windows 8 Image, Windows 8 PC refresh, Windows 8 PC reset, windows 8 upgrade path, Windows Azure, Windows Defender, windows easy transfer, Windows Firewall, Windows Intune, Windows Recovery Environment, Windows store, Windows To Go, Windows Update, wireless, workgroup, WRE, WSUS, zero-touch
Yesterday I received an e-mail that I was eligable to register for the beta exam:
“71-688 Managing and Maintaining Windows 8”
The beta exam period runs from Oct 17 – Oct 31 and I will personally take the exam next week. It is free for those who received the beta invite. If you didn’t receive the beta invite,you can still register through the prometric website, but it will not be free. If you want to get access to future beta exams, read one of my previous blog posts.
Normally the preparation guide is published on the microsoft learning website, but apparently they’re experiencing a delay. Therefore the preparation guide has now been posted on the born to learn blog:
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/btl/b/weblog/archive/2012/10/16/where-39-s-the-71-688-prep-guide.aspx
For all people taking the exam, good luck!
Tags: 070-688, 071-688, 70-688, 71-688, Beta, certification, Exam, MCSA, mcsa windows 8, Windows, Windows 8
Besides getting “MCSA: Windows Server 2012” certified , I also passed my Windows 8 exam “70-687 Configuring Windows 8“.
I’m still waiting for the results of 4 beta exams and hope I can pass them and get these certifications:
To be continued ……
PS: For more information about Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, be welcome to check my “Microsoft Information Flood” post. I’m a bit behind on updates, but it should still prove to be a valuable resource.
Tags: 070-410, 070-411, 070-412, 070-413, 070-414, 070-415, 070-416, 070-687, 071-410, 071-411, 071-412, 071-413, 071-414, 071-415, 071-416, 071-687, Beta, certification, Exam, MCSA, MCSA Windows Server 2012, MCSE Windows Server 2012, Prometric, Windows, Windows 2012, Windows 2012 Server, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012
After desperately checking if my results were in for the beta exams I took, I finally got the great news that I passed the first three beta exams for Windows Server 2012. This means I’m now officially “MCSA: Windows Server 2012” certified.
I’m still waiting for the results of the other 5 beta exams *fingers crossed*, but I couldn’t have wished for a better start 🙂
PS: For more information about Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, be welcome to check my “Microsoft Information Flood” post. I’m a bit behind on updates, but it should still prove to be a valuable resource.
Tags: 070-410, 070-411, 070-412, 070-413, 070-414, 070-415, 070-416, 070-687, 071-410, 071-411, 071-412, 071-413, 071-414, 071-415, 071-416, 071-687, Beta, certification, Exam, MCSA, MCSA Windows Server 2012, MCSE Windows Server 2012, Prometric, Windows, Windows 2012, Windows 2012 Server, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012
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