MCSA 2008 or 2012

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.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

omi2123

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.

Lexluethar

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).

SteveFT

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.

dlx509

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.

iBrokeIT

Definately go for the MCSA 2008 - still widely used and only 1 upgrade exam to get the MCSA 2012

Slowhand

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.

geekboss

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?