IT Certification FAQ

A: Most people would prefer the book from MS Press with the dreamer on the front. But this book is published in 2001. I used this book for home study, did the exam last week and passed. So it's not impossible :-) but a lot of questions were about subject not or barely mentioned in this book. After the exam i visited a bookstore and looked for a more up to date book. I took a quick look on Sybex upgraded Second Edition about 70-270 and found every subject that was questioned about. So i would you advise you to consider this book.

wkr, jwk

I'm studying for the 70-270 now and I have to say that I am not all that thrilled with the Sybex books. For one thing, much of it is an obvious re-package of their 70-210 book. For instance, chapter 3 is mislabeled as being for upgrading to windows 2000, not windows xp. This would be a minor, and even somewhat comical error if it were not for the fact that the whole book is littered with this same mistake. It gets really irritating after a while that you just spent $40 on a book that the authors didn't even bother to proof-read. Another give-away that this is a re-hashed 70-210 book is that it does not emphasize some of the key differences found in Windows XP over Windows 2000. I had watched the Learnkey series on XP and therefore knew the differences before I started to read the book. For instance, they don't put any emphasis on the way XP forces authentication using the local guest account in a workgroup environment. They also don't speak much at all about simple file sharing, again, a trait unique to XP. There are many other points that are missing or so under emphasized as to warrant NOT purchasing this book. I've skimmed some parts of my friend's MS Press training kit and although it seems much more dry and technical and basically devoid of personality, it at least contains the relevant information you will need. I guess it might be an OK purchase if you supplement it with something else like I did, but all in all I am am really underwhelmed by this one.

Sully

MS Press: MCSE Microsoft Windows XP Professional Readiness Review: Exam 70 270 (With CD-ROM)

Sybex: MCSA/MCSE Windows XP Professional Study Guide, Second Edition (70-270)

source: alt.certification.mcse
added: November 2004

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