70-697 Pass
For those looking for information on the exam, I purchased the "booster pack" at the end of March, extra $50 gave me 4 retakes and this was my first Microsoft test. I don't work on the systems administration side of things, but I've gone deep enough into Windows to think that it wouldn't be too much of an issue. I went in to the test blind the same week I bought the booster and pack and realized real quickly how wrong I was.
The test at the time was insane IMO. It was little to nothing to do with Windows 10 like I expected. It was all about Powershell, Intune, Azure, Azure AD, Bitlocker and TPM, etc. I expected something about the OS itself, but no. Questions were extremely granular as well, (fake example question) "Using powershell what would you invoke to deploy an Intune application across the enterprise while minimizing bandwidth, select four steps and place them in the correct order".
I watched the Skillport Windows 10 videos, these were good for explaining what everything was, how it interacted with Windows 10, what was new about it, etc. It did not cover the specific commands, switches, and details needed for the exam. Still good for a broad overview and starting point. Then I bought the Exam Ref 70-697 from Amazon. It contained walkthroughs for most of the installation, configuration, and deployment scenarios that I saw throughout the test. Somewhere on these forums I also found out you can sign up for a Microsoft Developer account for free and gain trial access to almost everything covered in the exam. This is a must for anyone taking the exam that doesn't deal with these technologies on a daily basis. Combine the book and the trial accounts, I figured I would try again.
Almost two months later I took the exam again, paying attention to the details this time. 52 Questions, passing score was 700, (I scored a 740). The questions seemed easier this time, not just because I was prepared, but a lot of them I could rule out with basic testing strategies and general IT knowledge. Some of the questions were still very granular, but it seemed like they improved the test to the point that I could figure out what answer they were looking for. My score wasn't amazing and I didn't feel overly confident during the test, but considering I don't work with any of these applications, a pass is a pass.
