Mehran Nikoo's Notes - All Comments

re: Visual Studio 2008 SP1, TFS SP1 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Patrick Smacchia — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:07:14 GMT

Here is a complete list of .NET Fx 3.5 SP1 changes compare to .NET Fx 3.5.

codebetter.com/.../net-3-5-sp1-changes-overview.aspx

1.393 new public methods,

79 new public types,

6.384 methods where code was changed

...

re: WCF Load Test Tool Published

Dan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:23:29 GMT

www.codeplex.com/WCFVisualizer

re: Passed 71-540

Gideon — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:48:26 GMT

hey, to get a MCTS in windows mobile one has to clear two exams right? 70-500 AND 70-540?

Theres no book for the 70-500 exam although I've heard its easy? How did you pass it(or did you)?

Thanks

Gideon

re: Where is the Configuration Management Application Block?

Julian — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:43:47 GMT

...but it seems that the implementation in System.Configuration is a shadow of its former self. There seems to be no extensibility in the new implementation. In particular, being able to use custom storage providers.

re: MCTS/MCPD Requirements Simplified

Mehran Nikoo — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:29:09 GMT

Hi Graham,

As you rightly wrote, 536 + 526 + 528 + 529 will earn you the 3 MCTS credentials and the one additional exam mentioned is 549 (Ent Pro). So the combination of those 5 exams will result in 3 MCTS as well as MCPD:EAD. The table towards the end of the following page shows the requirements:

www.microsoft.com/.../default.mspx

If you have recently taken the exams (within the last couple of days), you may want to give it another few days as sometimes it takes a while for the records to be updated and for all of the credentials to show up correctly. If it still doesn't show up, you can then contact the MCP team at MCPHelp at microsoft.com.

Hope this Helps.

re: MCTS/MCPD Requirements Simplified

Graham — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:07:09 GMT

Mehran,

I've passed the following 5 listed in your above post.

- 70-536 (AppFound)

- 70-526 (Win TS)

- 70-528 (Web TS)

- 70-529 (Dist TS)

- 70-549 (Ent Pro)

My transcript shows that I am now a MCTS in Win, Web and Distributed. But there is no mention of an MCPD - EAD on the transcript. And the page you've linked to mentions some other exam I need to take to get MCPD EAD.... Here's an excerpt from the page....

<SNIP>

After earning these credentials (3 x TS!), you can earn your MCPD: Enterprise Applications Developer on Visual Studio 2005 certification by passing one additional required exam. Then, you can follow a simple path to upgrade your skills on Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 to Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.

</SNIP>

Is there an additional exam?

Thanks

Graham.

re: OpenXML ISO Standardization

Mehran Nikoo — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:11:41 GMT

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your comment.

Brian Jones has a blog post on this subject, which you may find useful:

blogs.msdn.com/.../764988.aspx

re: OpenXML ISO Standardization

Peter Morlion — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:23:18 GMT

I think time will tell if this is good news. I believe Microsoft should have gone for the ODF format, as it was already an ISO standard. Moreover, two standards for the same thing is sort of against the whole concept of a standard.

I just hope Microsoft will share all it's specifications and won't make 'extensions' on this format that will only work in Office, making other applications useless even though they support OOXML.

So, given Microsoft's history on open formats and honest competition, I believe we'll have to see what the future brings. I hope Microsoft is truly committed to open standards. Yet there is speculation of shortcomings in this whole ODF-OOXML procedure.

On the other hand, there have been promising signals from Microsoft on standards, open source, cooperation with other companies...

Oh, and I by no means am a MS-hater or something of the likes. I'm an enthusiastic .NET developer. Just my thoughts.

re: WCF Exam 70-503

Mehran Nikoo — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:27:57 GMT

You are right. The beta exams are quite long and can take up to 4 hours (including the time allocated to prep & comments).

This allows higher number of test questions from the pool to be tested/evaluated by the beta candidates, which will eventually result in a higher quality for the released exam but as you mentioned, some people don't like the experience.

My advice to the beta testers is to have a full breakfast before going into the test room :)

re: WCF Exam 70-503

Enrique Gonzalez — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:26:04 GMT

Finally, I tried the beta exam - it was loooong and after 2 hours in that enclosure… . I mean the room provided by Fastrain for the exam… if didn’t pass I am more than willing to pay for a decent exam lasting at most two hours that rather repeat my last experience ( actually I had signed for the workflow beta exam but after my previous beta experience with the WCF no way! )

So glad to hear that it’s finally coming !!