Well this has certainly put a spanner in the works for me.....think ill skip Network+ and go straight onto MCDST now

I think they have made a bit of a mistake here. I bet it made perfect sense when explaining the plan to $$$$shareholder$$$$ in the boardroom.

It's a little bit like going back to school to do your english GCSE again. I dont quite understand the value of getting recertified with some of the entry level certs especially the A+ (the cost of re-doing this exam alone puts me off)

One thing i was wondering - do you loose your MCSA:SA if you have used the sec+ cert as the elective after the sec+ has expired? hope not!

I feel a Comptia U-turn coming on here....

It was exactly this reasoning why they charged a larger exam fee than other cert exams, "one time exam valid for life so we have to charge more", which incidentally I have no problems with.

Does this mean we can expect a refund for overinflated exam costs? Retroactively of course.

It will be interesting to see if they also reduce the cost of the exam now they can no longer claim to be a "one time cost"..

The more I think about this the more ludicrous it is. Do degree certificates become 'expired' even though the material is constantly being updated over the years? No. I really don't see why these should be any different.

If they're a non-profit company I would be very interested to know where this extra money, or lack of it as it seems people are likely to ignore 'expiration' judging by reaction, will go.

That's a very fair point. I remember the pain I felt when I paid for the N+ all that time ago, but I was satisfied that it there for life.

Thanks for the info and links, will check em out

I've just had a nice big fat rant in an email to CompTIArse, considering it took about 3 months for them to get back to me when their website wouldn't recognise my existence I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

If anyone wants to set up a petition I'll sign, I'd set it up myself but I should really get some work done at some point today!

Yeah I got a reply from them about the switchover date from 2006 - 2009 objectives in the UK two months after emailing them... I actually ended my enquiry with "I would appreciate a quick response so I can get back into my studies ASAP!"

Fingers crossed the backlash leads to something but let's be honest, protest rarely accomoplishes anything so I won't hold my breath. All the same I'd definitely sign a petition if somebody made one...

Funnily enough, I have just checked my CompTIA exam history and it says Expires: Never against each exam.

http://www.petitiononline.com/create_petition.html

Somebody with a good argument create one ^^

I believe it states that it comes into play mid-2010, perhaps your account details will change near the time.
To be honest i haven't looked at mine.

I just received the A+ cert. Probably no point reading terms & conditions, they have the right to do that(i hate the small print).
And i halfway through with the N+. I think i going to finish it now anyway. So if somebody change his/her mind i stilllooking for a cheap international voucher for N10-004......

I got a driving CCNP!!!!!!!!!!!

But do not think they make it easy that side. Now they(EU i think) introduced a new qualification. Called: Driver Certificate of Professional Competence aka Driver CPC. So if i am unlucky enough and can not change the job soon, i have to start that course as well, because without that i can not work anymore as a lorry driver. And that has to be renewed every 5 years as well.
I agree anyway, i think my driving much better than 11 years ago when i passed the test.
So if i start working in IT, probably i would get more experience, skills, etc. so i am happy to sit the refreshing exam(or whatever it is called). But that should be a fair fare.
Or:
If you know any Registered Nurse, they have to send over a verification of their relevant employment to keep their pin number. If they can not they have to do a refreshing course, with exams, etc, etc.
This options would get around ISO problems, but i think it is more financial issue than Quality assurance.

They're using it (incorrectly IMHO) as an excuse for what they've done. MS tried the 3 year thing with MCTS/MCITP didn't they, but had to back off after the uproar from the masses.

I think they will realise that they have fallen foul of public opinion but I reckon this could be the death knell for CompTIA. Not only do I think they'll have to pull back from this, but they will also have to drop exam prices to compensate for the people who have well and truly turned away from them, because of this and the huge cockup over the website update and delays in sending out certificates.