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Which Windows 7 exam?

Ed1975

Hi Guys,

If you'd just done a couple of Comptia exams (A+ and hopefully in a couple of months' time, Network+) and wanted to take your first foray into the scary world of MS exams, and you knew you wanted to do Windows 7, which exam would you choose as a starting point?

I have no professional IT experience but I've been using Windows (incl. 7) OSes for 20 years.

As far as I can see, the 70-680 or the 70-681 seem to be the natural choices. Does anyone think different, bearing in mind my background?

If so, what might make you choose 70-680 over 70-681 (which appears to be more rounded)? One problem with 70-681 seems to be there are no preparation materials.

If you recommend 70-680, the official MS book appears to be riddled with errors. Has anyone used the alternative title by Que written by Don Poulton? It has good reviews on Amazon so far.

Thanks guys!

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Comments

Dr IT

Well you can start off with the client exam which is the 680 . ( Though i hear it is a tough exam ) it should get you started with the Win 7 Cert Track .

I am preparing for my 680 now and would agree that the MS - Press is not up to the mark . Have you tried the stickies in this forum and also the sybex book should get the job done.

As far review the Poulton's book has a good review from users..

Good luck and hope that helps ( a bit atleast )

Psoasman

I would start with the 680 or 685. It helps to get books for both of these, while studying for them. There is a lot of overlapping material and it helps to have multiple sources.

I used the MS press 680 book - I've heard the 2nd edition is coming out and has fixed the enormous amount of errors.

Darril Gibson's 685/686 book is great and he has some nice resources on the CD.

The MS press 685 book is good, too.

Ed1975

Thanks Guys.

Having now read the description I'm kinda leaning more towards 70-685. My reasoning is the deployment phase will only be a one-off thing for most companies and once its done...but acting as a system admin should give you ongoing work.

Can you take 70-685 as an entry level into MS exams for Windows 7? Did anyone here take 70-685 as their first Windows 7 exam?

If so, what books etc. can you recommend? Thanks

Psoasman

I did the 680, then the 685. You can pretty much take exams in any order you want, but most of them build on each other.
As far as books, go I like the MS press 685 and Darrils's 685/686 book for the 685 exam.

Priston

Ed1975 wrote: »

Can you take 70-685 as an entry level into MS exams for Windows 7? Did anyone here take 70-685 as their first Windows 7 exam?

keep in mind the 70-685 alone wont give you a certification, you need the 70-680 along with it.

I would recommend the 70-680 first, since it will give you a certification
Then go for the 70-685

Ed1975

Priston wrote: »

keep in mind the 70-685 alone wont give you a certification, you need the 70-680 along with it.

I would recommend the 70-680 first, since it will give you a certification
Then go for the 70-685

Thanks, that makes quite a difference. I may have to reconsider (again).

Ed1975

well I bit the bullet and ordered Don Poulton's book on 70-680. I figure that it's cheap enough that if it turns out its not for me I won't have spent an arm and a leg.