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MCSA 2008 or 2012

Arman75Arman75 Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
in MCTS / MCITP on Windows 2008 General
For the past 4 years, I have been working as a desktop engineer (XP/7). I want to become a Windows server administrator now. I have my A+ and Network+ and want to get my MCSA. I have not taken any exams yet. Do you advise I get the MCSA 2008 and then take the upgrade exam for MCSA 2012 or should I just go for the MCSA 2012 and bypass 2008? Any help would be appreciated.
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    omi2123omi2123 Member Posts: 189
    I'd say go for 2012 cause it's lot better & more feature equipped. Pretty soon most of the companies will adopt it. I'm doing my mcsa on Win8 now then will go for 2012 mcsa.
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    LexluetharLexluethar Member Posts: 516
    Most companies still run 2008 - but i would suggest going for 2012 if you haven't started. 2012 R2 is solid and within a few years most companies will be running it IMO. You will be better off going straight to 2012 (remember to get R2 material).
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    SteveFTSteveFT Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 149
    I'm personally planning on doing the 2008 and then 70-417 to upgrade to 2012. I'm in a desktop support role as well at the moment. My company is still on 2008 and will surely continue to be for the foreseeable future. On top of that, I am relatively new to the IT world and want to make sure that I don't miss any differences between 2008 and 2012.
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    dlx509dlx509 Member Posts: 21 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I am actually thinking about doing the same thing, get my MCSA on server 2008 then upgrade to MCSE on server 2012. I am currently working as a desktop support as well, I think you have better chance of getting a job if you know both server 2008 and 2012. Server 2012 is good and solid but not yet as popular as server 2008.
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    iBrokeITiBrokeIT Member Posts: 1,318 ■■■■■■■■■□
    Definately go for the MCSA 2008 - still widely used and only 1 upgrade exam to get the MCSA 2012
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    SlowhandSlowhand Mod Posts: 5,161 Mod
    Since the difference between going straight to the MCSA 2012 vs. doing the MCSA 2008 and then upgrading is 3 exams instead of four, I'd say that it would be a worthwhile investment to take the three 2008 exams - 70-640, 70-642, and 70-646 - and then hit the 70-417 exam after that. While it's true that a lot of companies that held on to Server 2003 up to now would make the jump directly to 2012, a lot of places went with 2008 over the course of the last six years and are planning on sticking with it for a while. Having a solid foundation in both Server 2008 and Server 2012 will only help you as you move forward in your career.
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    geekbossgeekboss Member Posts: 38 ■■□□□□□□□□
    I'm studying for the 2008 exam.

    When is Microsoft going to retire the 2008 exam? I read that Windows 9 might be out in the next year so I'm guessing a new server OS will be too.

    Do you think it will be retired in the next two years?
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