2009 vs 2006

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Sybex A+ 2009 is out. I was wondering if anybody there had the chance to compare the material to 2006?

The thing is, I am almost done with reading Sybex a+ 2006, I have 250 pages to go. I was thinking to finish reading it and then perhaps go to a book store and take notes of all the new material. The question is.. is there alot of new material? and was there alot of old material removed from 2009? Afraid I am wasting time studying material that I don't need. for example, Do I still need to know about SCSI and other old cabling?

I am sure some people will say go ahead and do the 2006 exam. but I prefer to stay updated and study and do the latest exam.

Thanks!

 

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bumped
*i am also interested in the answer?

 

Most potential employers won't care which one you have. Anyway, you don't need to mention which exam you passed on your CV, just that you're certified. If they're interested they can ask you at the interview, and getting an interview is the main job of the certificate itself.
Also, be careful of what you class as old or obsolete. Businesses don't buy new software or hardware on a whim, there has to be a reason for it. Normally they don't upgrade everything at once either so might find several levels of technology in the same company.

For the OP, the choice is clear I think: carry on with the 2006. Since the two certs will have exactly the same value on a CV there's no point going to the extra effort and potential expense.
I would advise anyone who has 2006 materials at the moment to continue with that version. The exam retirement date is set at Feb 28th 2010 so there's a good 5 months yet.
Anyone who hasn't bought study materials yet is in a trickier situation. I know what I'll advise once Meyer's AIO 7th Ed. is out, but until then it's very much down to the individuals circumstances.

 

Thanks for the response soundian. I've heard that the employer doesn't care if you have an older certificate. But like I mentioned I'd like to study and do the latest exam not for the employer but for myself. I'd like to know the latest material instead of studying about hardware/cables etc that noone uses anymore. So I was simply wondering if there's alot of old material that was removed from 2009 exam and how much of new material was added?

For example if they left everything as it was and they simply added 50 new pages with Vista, new RAM and couple of more things then I wouldn't worry about studying everything in 2006 and then I'd simply read all the added material in 2009.

Thanks.

 

In my experience, the one time you think you don't need to know "that old stuff" anymore is the time that you encounter "that old stuff". Learn the old stuff AND the new stuff... thereby making yourself MORE valuable.

 

What he said ^

Very few companies are ever totally up to date with their IT kit, in my office we've got servers running Server 2000 - 2008 with a motley collection of hardware.

One of our suppliers has actually been mounting a push to get everyone using their software on to a maximum of one or two versions as they are currently trying to support everthing from Windows 95 up to Vista.

Most IT departments follow a system of 'if it aint broke don't fix it' this guarantees that old kit will hang around for a long time, particularly when the bean counters get involved and flatten your budget.

Learn the '06 material, you'll see Win XP desktops with good old fashioned PATA drives and AGP graphics cards hanging around for a while yet.

 

I value your advices guys! Thank you so much.

And I am still hoping somebody will answer my original question.

"is there alot of new material in 2009? and was there alot of old material removed from 2009?"

Thanks again!

 

I doubt there is much difference apart from vista will covered and windows 7 will get a mention.

A while back I did the N+ which has been updated. In the updated version appletalk isn't mention plus some of the other older networking technologies but I think this is a bad idea since places still use appletalk and the older technologies just as with the A+ some places still use windows 2000 and most will use xp for years to come and yes SCSI is still prevelant and will be for years to come also.

You will find when you get into IT that it is not all new stuff all the time businesses just dont have that sort of budget you will most likley find that you will be reading about 22nm CPUS when places still have CPUs that are 65nm in their desktops

 

Why don't you look at the old and new exam requirements (available on CompTIA's Web site) and compare them for yourself?

 

I found a request form.. is that it?

Can somebody direct me?

Thanks.

 

link!

 

how about typing compTIA N+ into google or going onto the compTIA website and selecting Network + from the list of compTIA certs?

like this http://www.comptia.org/certifications/listed/network.aspx

 

You can compare objectives but it's hard to know how much the test has actually changed. As far as formatting difficulty of question etc. I've been told Net+ became considerably easier. Has anyone (or know someone) who has taken 2006 and 2009 A+'s?

I agree with your post though, it's the first thing I did when debating which to take.

I'm still torn, I've studied for the 2006 and never took it, now I'm getting ready to either take it or the 2009.
I'm thinking about just taking the 2006 unless someone comes along and says the 2009 is a lot easier.

I'm not trying to get the easiest way out due to being lazy. I want to minimize the risk of losing the $$$ in addition to being lazy... That said I'm not that worried. More curious.

 

Then it probably won't help you much if I advise that you don't worry about what's harder or easier and simply learn the material.

Know why trying to figure out harder vs. easier won't do you any good? Because "easier" exams are often scaled up with higher passing score requirements... and "harder" exams are often scaled down with lower passing score requirements. A curve of sorts, if you will. That's why the passing scores for CompTIAs exams are moving targets. Certification vendors figure out how many people they want to pass, analyze the scores of the beta participants, and set the passing score. That's a gross oversimplification of what they do, but it's more or less accurate.

 

Overall it seems like a good testing system. I was going to take it this weekend but decided to put it off for another week.

I agree with you 100% that it's important to just study up. I'm not expecting one version of the test to be a joke while another to be considerably more difficult.

That is the reason I was so surprised to hear Net+ 2009 being a lot easier than previous versions. I hadn't accounted for adjusting minimum scores though so it should balance out.

Thanks again and I'll post next weekend how the 2 tests go most likely. I'm not too worried but down here they cost about what most people make in a month. Hate to pay that twice.