Sometimes when you are busy.. 71-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring gets released!

Doh! I was busy yesterday.  Yes I forgot to read BornToLearn for the day.. end result? I missed the Exchange Beta goes public announcement which had links over to the beta blog with Register for Beta Exam 71-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring – and what this means to you and I.. is that the Beta Code of E14J is no longer available or working!

Who know this exam would be so popular! (Okay, I knew it would, but I still missed the window.. but we’ll see… :) Worst case I’ll pay to take the beta!   Here are the details of the exam.

You are invited to take beta exam 71-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring. If you pass the beta exam, the exam credit will be added to your transcript and you will not need to take the exam in its released form. The 71-xxx identifier is used for registering for beta versions of MCP exams, when the exam is released in its final form the 70-xxx identifier is used for registration.
By participating in beta exams, you have the opportunity to provide the Microsoft Certification program with feedback about exam content, which is integral to development of exams in their released version. We depend on the contributions of experienced IT professionals and developers as we continually improve exam content and maintain the value of Microsoft certifications.

71-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring counts as credit towards the following certification(s).

· MCTS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuration


Availability

Public Registration begins: August 24, 2009

Beta exam period runs: August 31, 2009– September 14, 2009

Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately. Beta exams have limited availability and are operated under a first-come-first-served basis. Once all beta slots are filled, no additional seats will be offered.

Testing is held at Prometric testing centers worldwide, although this exam may not be available in all countries (see Regional Restrictions). All testing centers will have the capability to offer this exam in its live version.

Regional Restrictions: India, Pakistan, China


Registration Information

You must register at least 24 hours prior to taking the exam.
Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: E14J
Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately.

To register in North America, please call:

Prometric: (800) 755-EXAM (800-755-3926)

Outside the U.S./Canada, please contact:

Prometric: http://www.register.prometric.com/ClientInformation.asp


Test Information and Support

You are invited to take this beta exam at no charge.
You will be given four hours to complete the beta exam. Please plan accordingly.
Find exam preparation information: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-662

So, if/when I take this exam, look forward to a nice Post-Mortem to come out of it! And for those of you who got in under the wire, good luck!

E14 called and it wants its mailbox back, No More Bad Star Trek movie

The time is finally here! With Exchange 2010 on the horizon (Oh, and that I’m back from being out for three weeks… ) the time is finally here to finally be able to begin re-embracing Exchange

Incase you missed it, I’m a hardcore Exchange guy.  I first got into Exchange as a means to do certain functions which the mail systems at the time were unable to support, so I adopted the Exchange model in the Exchange 4.0 Timeframe (Oh, and MSMail but I won’t go there ;))

And for everyone who was ever involved in Exchange, you’ll know that like Star Trek Movies, there are good movies “Wow, that was amazing!” and there are bad ones “Wtf?! That was terrible! Oh, it’ must be an odd/even thing!”    We all experienced that with Windows versions too.  NT3.1 rocked, 3.5 sucked, 3.51 was decent, 4.0 was great, and in the Desktop Space.. Win95 was ‘eh’ win98 great, winME, WTF?! (And albeit I personally liked Vista, enough people seemed to have enough issues that it didn’t make it too technically feasible)

Well, these same rules did apply in star trek movie terms to Exchange (Yes, my very own beloved Exchange) whereby Exchange 4.0 was great (first…?) 5.0 was horrible.  5.5 was SOLID! Exchange 2000 was a nice intro, but Exchange 2003 was immaculate (for its needs) and Exchange 2007.  Well, lets just say, you’ll notice I haven’t talked about Exchange 2007 for the most part in the past 6 years.. Ever wonder if there was a reason for that?

So, it brings me great honor to say Exchange 2010 (E14) is going to be the rock which we all know it to be.    So like you, I will look forward to all the great solid things, like a management interface, configuration management.. things not being done as a SEVERE afterthought.  Pretty solid usability (Oh, and at no point have I ever disagreed with the UI/UX Experience, so my good friends in E2K7 UI/UX, none of this is a knock against you, you just had to ride the bad movie train ;))

Look out.. this blog may start to cover more Exchange related things again, considering most of my most frequently visited hits tend to be around messaging, an area I was forced out of by a terrible movie ;)