Is mcdst going to be out of date soon?

Im new to the microsoft exams and wondered if I should skip the Mcdst exams and start on to the mcitp exams is this a good move? Just wondered how long will xp be around for?

Find more posts tagged with

SAVE $250 on Your Boot Camp — Use Code "EXAM26"

Exclusively for TechExams members for Infosec Boot Camps starting before April 30, 2026

View Boot Camps

Comments

Sie

XP / 2003 will be around for a good while yet, whilst there is some early adopters of Vista and will be of 2008 it will be a while before these become mainstream.

Microsoft currently has no plans to retire the MCSA 2003 or the MCSE 2003 and I dont see them doing it for some time if at all.

From the MS Site:

The MCDST credential will not retire with the release of Windows Vista certifications; it will continue to be supported by Microsoft and valued by employers and decision makers who use Microsoft Windows XP.

What track to follow really depends on what you currently do / are aiming for.

Do whats relevant to your current work and what future work you want to know, MCDST is a for Helpdesk Technicians. Also after you pass this you can always take the 70-621 upgrade exam to become a MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician if thats the path you choose.

So really depends what your job is, what your working with (XP/Vista) and what you have the most experience with

nel

Like sie says, the 2003 platform will still be supported for a few years at least yet. i would go for the mcsa/mcse 2003 track if i were you. if you do, i would do the vista exam instead of the xp so it will be a viable option if you wanted to upgrade to 2008.

bleScreened

george.c wrote:

Im new to the microsoft exams and wondered if I should skip the Mcdst exams and start on to the mcitp exams is this a good move? Just wondered how long will xp be around for?

Heck I know people that are getting jobs that haven't updated their NT 4.0 certs. Even if the MCDST gets phased out tomorrow, it will still be a viable cert for getting a pretty good helpdesk job for a few years.

Go for it man! It is a great two test legit certification you can get fairly quickly in order to get your IT career started while you working on bigger certs.

Daniel333

Most large companies have a life cycle of about 4-5 years on the desktops now days, so you will see XP disappear, I guess 2012-2013? You gotta figure at my bank we are still running hundreds of Windows 2000 pro machines and dozens of 2000 servers. We even have a few virtualized NT4 machines. (we even run a number 16bit apps!)

You won't go wrong either way, the install base of XP/2003 will provide work for years to come. And the Vista/2008 deployments will only grow. Plus the technology is pretty inter-operable.