so many Microsoft Press books for Exam 70-410 - which one?

crashdump

I did MCSE NT 4.0. There was official MS study guide. Now see so many Microsoft press guides. Which one? What's difference?

Exam Ref 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server® 2012: Craig Zacker: 9780735673168: Amazon.com: Books

Exam 70-410 Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 (Microsoft Official Academic Course Series): Microsoft Official Academic Course: 9781118511077: Amazon.com: Books

Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server® 2012: Mitch Tulloch: 9780735673106: Amazon.com: Books

earweed

The second one MOAC is primarily used at colleges and boot camps (have been seeing these for a while). Up until 2012 I've only seen 1 MS press book per exam (looks like M$ is trying to soak us some more)

gabypr

I have the MCSE 2003 and i decided to study for the new MCSE. I started using Introducing Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 Up and running for 70-410. Apart from those I'm using Cbtnuggets and soon Microsoft Exam Ref book. I think that with that material I can pass. The training guide can be used also to complement as a nice introduction. Good luck!

ITMonkey

I'm going to order Zacker's book once I finish Tullock's. I chose the later book first because it had more pages (400 vs. 640). I've noticed that some of the newest ms books tend to be sparse in hard-core technical material, and instead point you to TechNet links. That has merit because books get out of date so quickly. On the other hand, why buy a book if you are mostly reading TechNet pages?....

dazerski

I ordered the Zacker book and just got it today. I've only skimmed through it but it feels quite a bit different than the mcitp box set as mentioned right at the beginning; it seems to be a high level glance at topics leaving a lot of outside research to do. Thanks for this thread! I'll check out the other books mentioned here. Good luck to everyone!

earweed

It looks like along with the new look of the OS they also want a new look to the books they put out covering them.

joey3k

hopefully this isn't a double post, but my first post seems to have vanished into outerspace...

So I will retype:
I've used Zackers book and found it covered quite a bit of detail and seems thorough enough. the only thing is, it's a bit dry. in one particular section he rambles on about how the HDD needs to be slightly bigger than the amount of RAM installed on the computer. but then he continues to say that it is not likely to find a server with a 32GB HDD and 32GB of RAM. so if you can get passed the dry stuff it's not bad at all.

Also, I've used the CBT nugget videos and have found them very helpful, particularly due to how practical they are. They can be a bit dry as well, but if you can stay focused on them they're a pretty good video series.

lastly i have been practicing lately using mock exam questions because I find this is the best way to prepare. this is really the method I used in University, if the exam is based on multiple choice, then i always found it best to either make up or find multiple choice questions to practice with. if you google you should be able to find a couple of sites that have free questions. I have been using xxxxxxxxxxx because it's free and the questions appear to be thorough. one thing to keep in mind is that website also pushes the Zacker book.