Windows Internals (70-660)

jibbajabba

I just found out about this exam by accident. The content sounds very interesting. I am tempted to actually get the book once released. Not really to study for the exam but for the content

This exam validates deep technical skills in the area of Windows Internals. Including troubleshooting operating systems that are not performing as expected or applications that are not working correctly, identifying code defects, and developing and debugging applications that run unmanaged code or that are tightly integrated with the operating system, such as Microsoft SQL Server, third party applications, antivirus software, and device drivers.

I am working in a hosting company so I think this would actually help on a daily basis ..

Anyone else considered taking this one or looked into it ?

Edit: Doesn't even show up on this list : http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/certified.mspx
Edit2: And could someone move this one to the right place

astorrs

Don't wait for the 5th edition, pickup a copy of Windows Internals 4th edition and start reading, then you can just focus on the changes in Vista/2008 highlighted in the 5th ed.

They've been a fantastic series since the 1st edition and one everyone should read once they get to a certain level - you'll actually understand "how" Windows works.

As for the exam... looks ugly.

dreadnought

You get the 4th edition 'Internals' book with the Server 2003 Res kit as well:

Amazon.com: Microsoft Windows Server(TM) 2003 Resource Kit: Special Promotional Edition: Microsoft Corporation: Books

You're right though, it must be cool to understand Windows at that intrinsic level.

JDMurray

Gomjaba wrote: »

Edit: Doesn't even show up on this list : Number of Microsoft Certified Professionals Worldwide

This list is for MS certifications, not individual exams. The 70-660 is suppose to be part of a new MCTS Windows Debugging certification, but I'm not sure how many exams are involved, or if 70-660 is out of beta yet. I agree that it looks like a great exam to study if you need to know the internals of Windows like a system software engineer does.

Exam 70-660: TS: Windows Internals

jibbajabba

JDMurray wrote: »

This list is for MS certifications, not individual exams.

Actually 70-660 is a MCTS Certification and the list does show individual MCTS certs

Example:



Your statement is true about the 'MCP' though.

Either way, thanks to 'dreadnought' I found our Server 2003 Resource Kit and it indeed had the 4th edition

At page 20 now

Slowhand

Gomjaba wrote: »

Doesn't even show up on this list : http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/certified.mspx

I wouldn't imagine it would. That link shows how many people are currently certified by Microsoft. If the exam isn't out of beta, or is relatively new, then there's probably no one holding that title or they haven't gotten enough numbers to reflect on the site. Considering that the study guide for the exam isn't out yet, I wouldn't be a bit surprised that an exam that's this obscure (compared to the MCSE or MCITP exams) hasn't gotten any takers yet.

JDMurray

Gomjaba wrote: »

Actually 70-660 is a MCTS Certification and the list does show individual MCTS certs

The 70-660 is just one of the exams that will be required for the MCTS Windows Debugging cert. There are currently no MCTS certs that require passing only one exam to achieve (unless there's an upgrade exam I don't know about). And passing an MCTS certification exam does not also earn you the MCP certification. You will be considered a Microsoft Certified Professional, but not MCP-certified.

dynamik

Are you thinking of the MCITPs, JD? Most, if not all of the MCTS certifications only require a single exam.

Slowhand

JDMurray wrote: »

The 70-660 is just one of the exams that will be required for the MCTS Windows Debugging cert. There are currently no MCTS certs that require passing only one exam to achieve (unless there's an upgrade exam I don't know about). And passing an MCTS certification exam does not also earn you the MCP certification. You will be considered a Microsoft Certified Professional, but not MCP-certified.

Actually, the MCTS exams all give you stand-alone certs. Doing 70-620 gets you a cert on Vista for example, and doing any of the three MCTS exams for Windows Server 2008 gets you a Techology Specialist cert for each. They show up as individual certifications on your Microsoft transcript. Even the one in question has its own TS status:

Microsoft wrote:

Credit Toward Certification
When you pass Exam 70-660: TS: Windows Internals, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows Internals

Exam 70-660: TS: Windows Internals: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):
N/A

It counts as its own MCTS cert, but there's currently no MCITP or MCDP cert it counts towards. It's not easy keeping up with Microsoft and their new cert-tracks, I was unsure about the specifics for a long time as well.

jibbajabba

JDMurray wrote: »

The 70-660 is just one of the exams that will be required for the MCTS Windows Debugging cert. There are currently no MCTS certs that require passing only one exam to achieve (unless there's an upgrade exam I don't know about). And passing an MCTS certification exam does not also earn you the MCP certification. You will be considered a Microsoft Certified Professional, but not MCP-certified.

You are talking about MCITP m8 ... MCTS ARE single exams such as MCPs...

Example, in order to get the MCITP Server 2008 Enterprise Admin you have to do several single MCTS :

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcitp/windowsserver/2008/enterprise/default.mspx

The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certifications enable professionals to target specific technologies and to distinguish themselves by demonstrating in-depth knowledge and expertise in their specialized technologies. An MCTS is consistently capable of implementing, building, troubleshooting, and debugging a particular Microsoft technology.

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Certified_Professional#Technology_Series_.28MCTS.29

Claymoore

The book has been on my radar because it looks interesting. Problem is, I don't know when I would get around to reading it. My summer reading list is already piling up with resource kits and I'm not sure what I am going to focus on for certifications the second half of the year.

Both the exam and the book seem to exist in that gray area between systems and development. On the exam resources page, there is even two types of training - one for developers and one for admins.

elaverick1981

I've been looking at this exam myself on and off for about 6 months, it looks like a total nightmare... I really wanna give it a go.

And just to clarify not every exam that leads to an MCTS gets you there in a single stroke. A lot of the new programming exams require that you get a single foundational MCTS before they count towards thier own MCTS certification. 70-505 is like this and I'm 99.9% certain that the WPF and WCF exams are in the same vein.

JDMurray

dynamik wrote: »

Are you thinking of the MCITPs, JD? Most, if not all of the MCTS certifications only require a single exam.

All of the MCTS certs I have looked at require passing at least two exams. I must admit that I haven't looked at them all, but I'm not considering cert upgrade exams.

elaverick1981

JDMurray wrote: »

All of the MCTS certs I have looked at require passing at least two exams. I must admit that I haven't looked at them all, but I'm not considering cert upgrade exams.

All of the component exams (non-pro) for the MCITP:EA/SA give you an MCTS in a single exam. Same with a lot of the standalone MCTS's. I think 2+ exams for one cert is the exception rather than the norm.

JDMurray

elaverick1981 wrote: »

I think 2+ exams for one cert is the exception rather than the norm.

Just my luck that the only MCTS certs that caught my eye are the exceptions. I hadn't realized that Microsoft had become so generous with offering single-exam certs.

dreadnought

Gomjaba - I've also got the Sysinternals DVD from the site below and although it's a bit long in the tooth now it's still worth a look:

Sysinternals DVD

Jordus

JDMurray wrote: »

Just my luck that the only MCTS certs that caught my eye are the exceptions. I hadn't realized that Microsoft had become so generous with offering single-exam certs.

Umm its been that way for a LOOOONG time.

A single test back in the NT/2000/XP days gave you the MCP Cert.

A single "MCTS" exam now gives you the MCTS cert.

Infact i cant even name ONE MCTS cert that requires MORE than 1 test.

Slowhand

Jordus wrote: »

Umm its been that way for a LOOOONG time.

A single test back in the NT/2000/XP days gave you the MCP Cert.

A single "MCTS" exam now gives you the MCTS cert.

Infact i cant even name ONE MCTS cert that requires MORE than 1 test.

The difference, of course, being that in the old days you'd just get "MCP" without any specialty or other title no matter which exam was taken, whereas you can get multiple MCTS certs and each is its own specialty.

JDMurray

Jordus wrote: »

Infact i cant even name ONE MCTS cert that requires MORE than 1 test.

Oh, well let me enlighten you:

• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Communication Foundation Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Presentation Foundation Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Workflow Foundation Applications

Jordus

oh all the developer crap. No wonder ive never seen it.

BTW you arent doing much enlightening in this thread, but getting enlighted yourself.

jibbajabba

The .NET exams are quite "small" compared to the system ones and also each exam required for ie .NET 2 Web Applications (70–536 / 70–528 ) are MCTS in itself too (dev stuff is well confusing).

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-536.aspx
Preparation Guide for Exam 70-528: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - Web-Based Client Development

Megadeth4168

I took the 660 when it was in Beta.... Failed it miserably, of course I have never had to deal with any of the types of questions/scenarios on the exam.

Slowhand

JDMurray wrote: »

Oh, well let me enlighten you:

• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Communication Foundation Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Presentation Foundation Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Workflow Foundation Applications

I actually had no idea the developer exams were two to a TS cert. Thanks for the info, JDMurray.