70-620 Lifecycle question

Nobylspoon

So from what I read when mainstream support has ended for a product your certification retires for that product. It looks like Vista will retire mainstream support on 4/10/12 http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=11707 if that information is correct atleast...

My question is will it still be valid for MCITP if I am still working on it or will I have to take a new client OS exam? If I have already finished my MCITP by that time will it still be valid when 70-620 is retired?

Sorry, just trying to understand this new lifecycle policy they have in place. I plan on taking my 70-620 in early Spring.

dynamik

Nobylspoon wrote:

So from what I read when mainstream support has ended for a product your certification retires for that product.

You have a source for that? I don't think that's true.

Nobylspoon

dynamik wrote:

Nobylspoon wrote:

So from what I read when mainstream support has ended for a product your certification retires for that product.

You have a source for that? I don't think that's true.

Oh ok, I must of misread something when I was on the site earlier. Sorry about that.

Nobylspoon

Nobylspoon wrote:

dynamik wrote:

Nobylspoon wrote:

So from what I read when mainstream support has ended for a product your certification retires for that product.

You have a source for that? I don't think that's true.

Oh ok, I must of misread something when I was on the site earlier. Sorry about that.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/newgen/lifecycle/default.mspx

This is where I got that information from.

Your MCTS, MCITP, or MCPD certifications will retire when Microsoft discontinues mainstream support for the related technology. Typically, mainstream support is discontinued 7 to 10 years after the initial product release. When support ends, your related certification will retire

Did I misinterprate this?

dynamik

Nah, that's my fault. I'm not completely up to speed with all intricacies of the new certifications. Plus, there was some debate how they were going to handle this, and they were changing some things around, so I just stopped paying attention

I know if you have your MCITP, you'll only need to do a refresher exam as the technology changes. I don't think anyone can give you an answer for what happens if you're not done with it by the time they drop support for Vista. You have over three years to do five exams though, so I don't think that should be a concern of yours.

Nobylspoon

Yeah, I should have no problem knocking them all out in that timeframe besides I wouldnt mind taking an exam on Windows 7 if I need a new client cert since I doubt it is going to be a huge leap from Vista.

Hopefully they get this all sorted out before certs start to retire though.

skrpune

something doesn't add up here. From that first link, it looks like MS plans to end mainstream support in 2012 & continue extended support until 2017. But if Vista was released in 2007, and if mainstream support lasts for 7-10 years after release, at which point the associated certs "retire," then their math is off somewhere...it looks like they're planning to end mainstream support at least 2 years early.

Nobylspoon

skrpune wrote:

something doesn't add up here. From that first link, it looks like MS plans to end mainstream support in 2012 & continue extended support until 2017. But if Vista was released in 2007, and if mainstream support lasts for 7-10 years after release, at which point the associated certs "retire," then their math is off somewhere...it looks like they're planning to end mainstream support at least 2 years early.

Well it has been my understanding that Vista was only released because Windows 7 was delayed so much. Vista was planned as an interim release to hold people over until Windows 7. This is why Windows 7 is expected to be so much like Vista but with more features and more stable.

Originally, a version of Windows codenamed Blackcomb was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. Later, Blackcomb was delayed and an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn", was announced for a 2003 release.[7] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold in order to develop new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn was also "reset" in September 2004.

Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006,[8] and again to Windows 7 in 2007.[3] In 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[9][10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7

dynamik

I think the 7-10 years is just a general guideline, and I don't think the date for the end of mainstream support is set in stone either. I'm sure a lot of it will depend on when Windows 7 is actually released. However, if you look back, you'll see that 2000 also had mainstream support for about five years as well.