Some changes to Microsoft's 2010 certifications

For its 2010 certification process, Microsoft made some changes and I am glad to say for the better, being a .net developer I will be focusing on visual studio, the visual studio certificates are

•    Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)
•    Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)

Now I will not go into much detail because doing so will be rehashing the Microsoft learning website, just go there to get more info.
I will be focusing on the web developer ASP.Net stream because that’s where my interest lies, if you need more info on the other streams go here.
I will answer a few FAQs based on my research so far. The FAQs are:

•    How many exams do I have to take
•    When will I be able to do the exams
•    What’s the syllabus
•    How much will it cost
•    How do I prepare

How many exams do I have to take
Good news!! No need to do the .net foundation exam otherwise known as Exam 70-536: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework, Application Development Foundation, I have always wondered the point of an exam that does not give you a certificate (can you say money making scheme).
To be an MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technologist) all you need to do is pick your flavour, and do the exam, my flavour is MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Web Applications so i’ll be doing the Exam 70-515: TS: Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4.
To be an MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) all you need to do is .. yes you guessed it, pick a flavour, mine is MCPD: Web Developer 4, and do the requisite MCTS exams which for my flavour are

1. The Exam 70-515: TS: Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 for the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Web Applications
2. The Exam 70-513: TS: Windows Communication Foundation Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 for the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Service Communication Applications
3. The Exam 70-516: TS: Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 for the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Data Access

As well as the appropriate MCPD exam, mine is Exam 70-519: PRO: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4

Summary of number of exams needed

• 1 exam to get any MCTS 
• 3 requisite MCTS exams + 1 MCPD exam to get an MCPD

When will I be able to do the exams
Sadly the only clues as to when the exams can be done can be found here and here . On the pages it just says “Published: July 02, 2010(In development)”, not sure but I guess that can be taken to mean the exams will be ready by July 02.
For now there’s no mention of the exams on the Prometric website (they administer all Microsoft exams), so we’ll have to wait and see.

What’s the syllabus
For Exam 70-515 Towards the MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Web Applications the syllabus is
•    Developing Web Forms Pages (19%)
•    Developing and Using Web Forms Controls (18%)
•    Implementing Client-Side Scripting and AJAX (16%)
•    Configuring and Extending a Web Application (15%)
•    Displaying and Manipulating Data (19%)
•    Developing a Web Application by Using ASP.NET MVC 2 (13%)
More info here

and for exam Exam 70-519 towards the MCPD: PRO: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4, the syllabus is
•    Designing the Application Architecture (19%)
•    Designing the User Experience (17%)
•    Designing Data Strategies and Structures (18%)
•    Designing Security Architecture and Implementation (17%)
•    Preparing For and Investigating Application Issues (15%)
•    Designing a Deployment Strategy (14%)
More info here

How much will it cost
It’s not on the Prometric website, so no information on pricing yet. The 2008 ones cost £80 per exam

How do I prepare
For now there are no .net framework 4.0 self training kits on the Microsoft website or anywhere on the internet for that matter (or at least the part of the internet I searched). I suppose for now one will have to use a combination of the old self training kits and .net 4.0 courses on Microsoft’s channel 9