Time delay between taking the A+ Core and OS exams

in A+
I have been studying all of the material for both the A+ hardware and OS exams. Recently, I have decided the better strategy is to focus, intensively, on the hardware section and take that exam. Exactly how much time will I have to re-focus on the OS exam before I have to take it?
Comments
there are whispers that the objectives may change early next year, though there is no indication of when the exams based on present objectives will retire.
At the same time I posted a request for help here, I sent the same message on the support page at CompTia. Your reply was on target with their response; however, they suggested that the next updates to the A+ exams would not occur before September 2003! Do you think I can really depend on that much breathing room? FYI, here is the exact post:
Sandra,
The 90 day rule has been eliminated as of July 28th, 2000 for the A+ exam. You have up to the next update in the content of the exam to pass both tests and avoid losing credit for any completed tests. The next update in the content of the A+ exam would not occur until September 2003 at the earliest.
Once you are A+ certified, you are certified for life and you would not have to retake the exam again, regardless of any changes that we may make to the exam. This applies to all of CompTIA's certifications.
Thank you,
Mark Griffin
I really appreciated your quick response and enjoy reading your advice to other posts.
Robomom