Brain does not meet certification requirments, please install more certifications
Yay I am now MCP certified. I am already certifiable, I know, but that is not the point.
I passed my 70-290 (Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment) first go. The test was actually about what I expected, and I didn't think I had passed but I did, now onto the umpteen other exams I have to do to get my MCSE. Of course this course of action is not going to put me in great sted for some of the people at my Linux Users Group (see here), but I gotta eat.
See it isn't that I think Windows is better than Linux, or for that matter Vice Versa. I think at present Windows has its place, and it actually does some things better than Linux. But Linux has so much potential, that and I won't be touching Vista with 20ft barge pole.
Interestingly enough everyone knows the advantages and stability of open source, even MS, see below for an interesting header I got when downloading the office 2007 beta.
!!!! ----Header Sent----
>>>> GET /Microsoft/DMMSO12B/PRO/AKAMAIFILES/OPPLUS-EN.EXE HTTP/1.1
Host: download.esd.licensetech.com
Range: bytes=0-
User-Agent:
Accept: */*
Accept-Encoding:
!!!! ----Header Recv----
HTTP/1.1 206 Partial Content
Server: Apache
Notice anything odd? Well yes it isn't strictly an MS site, just someone who is giving them some space and bandwidth for their betas, as it says at the bottom of the beta site. But it is running a good old stable apache server, MS seems to have this a lot, their partners, people hosting a cache of the site, hosting files for them etc, aren't using IIS6, instead they are relying on good old Apache, and why not.
So with all that said, I reacon the MCSE will get me more money, to support my family, then on my own time and for my own reasons I can get my LPIC's (Linux Professional Institute Certification), I do believe it will make me even more valuable, but the MCSE is where I think at present I should start.
On other family related notes, Geoffrey is now sitting all by himself, and commando crawling around the place at speed. He is also laughing and playing, when he is not annoyed at his painful tooth that is coming through.
Fiona is so good with him she had him sitting on the floor and was acting like a sumo the other night, and he was laughing his head off, it was so cute.
Talking about Linux again, for those who don't Linux is really just the core part of a Free operating system, a replacement for Windows or Macos. It relies on a licence that is contrary to usual software licencing in that it gives rights to the user, and that it can be freely distributed.
I would suggest you look at utilities that are included in your average Linux variant. Most have an MS Office replacement, email, web, messaging client, all free and pre installed. Also due to the quicker release of newer versions, you will find that you may not have to install any drivers for your hardware. It also tends to be more stable and secure as default, very few viruses actually work on Linux, so to very few adware/spyware programs.
A couple of free open source links
-www.theopencd.org: a cd chock full of free open source software including a replacement for Office, that can open office documents, and a more secure faster web browser than IE.
-www.ubuntu.com: Linux for human beings. Not only will they send you this windows replacement on cd free, but you can also download it free. Includes hundreds of programs pre-installed and about 17000 available via a nice little install utility. I personally use this on two of my pc's, so does Fiona.
I know I was a little preachy there, but Linux and open source software has really started to come of age. The new version of MS office, is going to save files that cannot be read by older versions, the new Windows is going to be no better than the current one, if anything worse, so it is time to decide really, I for one am glad I have gotten in early :)
Peace out all.
