I just reviewed Microsoft's policies for upgrading from Windows 2000 MCSE to Windows 2008. There is no direct upgrade path. You have to upgrade from Windows 2000 to 2003 MSCE by taking 2 upgrade tests, and then you upgrade to Windows 2008 with at least 2 more upgrade tests.
I looked at the Upgrade tests from 2000 to 2003, and there is a little note that says these test are expiring in March 2008. Given the fact that Windows 2008 was just released to manufacturing in February of 2008, that gives all MCSE 2000 folks about 1 month to pass these 2 tests. With that tight of a time frame, Microsoft's free 2nd shot exam offer won't help.
This is not fair to those who invested their time & money into getting a Windows 2000 MCSE. After all, there is an upgrade path from NT 4.0 to Windows 2003, but none from Windows 2000 to 2008. If there is not going to be a direct upgrade path from 2000 to 2008 (because they are such different technologies, according to Microsoft), do you think Microsoft could at least throw give MCSE 2000 folks a break by extend this deadline, to give folks adequate time to study & pass these tests? I don’t know about you, but some of us spend their time on full time jobs during the day, as well as family at night, in addition to finding time to study for tests.
It seems to me that Microsoft is communicating a callous disregard for the time & money spent on certification by the community that implements their products. If you can't pass these 2 tests in the month of March 2008, I guess you either need to start over again with Windows 2008 certification, or maybe Microsoft wants us to jump ship and get certified in Linux?
What’s your take on this?
