Customer Reviews

Microsoft Windows 2000 Core Requirements, Exam 70-210: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I found the book more like a user manual. The book does not discuss or gives examples like the sybex book I used for my NT 4.0. However, if you have the patience, the book teaches you all about Windows 2000 Pro.

Another thing I like about the book is that there is no mention of NT 4.0. Some Windows 2000 books in the market are face lift of their NT 4.0 editions. But not this one. This book was written from ground up.

But this lack of NT 4.0 Coverage can be another hurdle for new NT specialist. You will try in vain to look up the Windows 2000 equivalent of an NT 4.0 feature.

NO CD-ROM with the book !

I found the book helpful, but if you can, wait for the other publishers who are famous for their self study guides.

Hello Fellow Travellers!

I have been using Win2k Pro/Server from beta to final release. I went through the classes for win2k based on beta3. I purchased all the pro/server/ad MCSE training kits. I wanted to get clarification and separation from the win2k classes via the MCSE books. I work with Win2k Pro everyday.

I have been using the training kits ever since I started on this never-ending journey of studying I found the MCSE win2kpro training kit material to be quite good and clear. This books covers ALOT of material and addresses good common issues/ questions about win2k pro.Overall, it is pretty good book. Ok, why the 3 stars?

The material is fine, but I think that this book is more addressed to different audience. If you are a newbie trying to start out, this book might be overwhelming. I think that this is more addressed to people who have taken/have a couple MCPs or classes.

Another reason is that this book does not have a eval copy of win2k pro which I find quite irritating! They suggest that you d/l a copy from their website! Boggle. I have full versions of the OS, but for someone who doesn't...not pretty. I feel that this book was somewhat rushed to market and didnt have time to put in the RTM with the book. OR..they decided that this book is for a higher audience. I am confused about this move. When I check the MS site, I thought the 0 CD contained in the book was a typo. Guess not.

Conclusion: (why didn't start from here? :)) Good material and info. Bad marketing..no eval copy. Confusion. You need a running version of Win2k Pro to even use this book. If you have a copy of win2kpro, get it. If not, try to get hard copy of win2k pro, I guarantee that you will install/reinstall over time.

My 2 cents,

Seattle Dude MCSE+i MCDBA MCT CCNA CCDA

I have not used the Microsoft Press training books since studying for the NT 3.51 and SMS 1.2 tests. (I used the study guides from other publishers (Sybex and IDG Books) to study for most of the tests in the course of getting my MCSE.)

Quite frankly, I only bought the MS Press Win2K books because there were no other alternatives at the time.

Note that Microsoft has changed the content of the Win2K tests to try to weed out the so-called "paper MCSEs". In doing so, a number of items on the test are network troubleshooting questions and the like that are more easily answered by the IT engineer with some actual experience under his/her belt.

These kinds of questions are not covered in the MS Press Win2K Professional training kit.

It does, however, present most of the Win2K Pro information you might be asked about during the test. There are areas that I feel the training kit brushes over too briefly such as Infra red and other wireless devices, but you're expected to supplement the info from the training kit with product help files, TechNet, the Resource Kit and experience with the product. I have started reading the MS Press Win2K Server training kit and have discovered that it covers some of the same material as the Win2K Pro kit in more detail, so you may want to get and read both Pro and Server kits before taking the 70-210 test.

Aside from the dry "put-you-to-sleep" writing style that is common with many of these types of books (not exclusively MS Press, either) the only other quibble I have is that (with the exception of the chapter on RAS) there is no or very little mention of or comparison with the Win NT4 Workstation product. There is some new terminology and new ways of doing old tasks in Win2K Pro, and I think such comparisons would help those readers who are already familiar with the NT4 WS product.

Finally, this is a book geared towards preparing you to pass the 70-210 test. I would not use this book as a reference on Win2K Pro because of the lack of in-depth coverage on some features and concepts. If you're looking for a reference book, try the MS Press Win2K Pro Resource Kit or any of a number of books from other publishers that should be cropping up like weeds over the coming months.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. Hope you found it useful.

This book is well written with clear, concise language. It is presented in a logical fashion and is a much better read that the NT 4 kits. I will say however that you do need some experience or already have your NT 4 MCSE to get the most out of it. The book itself states that the intended audience are IT professionals and that a prerequisite is "A knowledge of the fundamentals of current networking technology is required" Unlike the NT 4 track, which you can be a newbie and get through it, I think MS has raised the bar on this one (Win2k). If you meet the requirements I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Whether or not it is sufficient to pass the exam remains to be seen.

What is with the Windows 2000 Track?? I have been through many academic and industry certification processes in my life, and I have never seen such a badly coordinated certification process. At the peak of this chaos, is this training kit. Besides being extremely dry to read, there are many disastrous shortcomings.

First, the kit does not begin to even negotiate the style and mechanism of the examination. The actual exam being much more complex and analytical than what is illustrated.

Second, the training kit does not cover many (if not most) of the skills and concepts covered by the actual examination. One can even find several items on the Microsoft "Skills Being Measured" list that are not even mentioned in the kit.

Third, many of the skills that the kit covers are discussed in much less depth than what is actually required during the examination. One very good example is "Windows Installer Packages" that the kit only scratches the surface of, while the examination actually goes into great detail with it.

I guess the real question is:

Is there lack of communication between the people who set the skills for the exams, the people who actually write the exams, and the people who put together the training material?

This book is a good starting place for 70-210. Those who think any one book will prepare them for any of the new Microsoft tests are in for for a very rude suprise. Microsoft's stated approach is that the tests may include ANY material related to the test objectives. This includes - study books (like this), knowledge base articles, Microsoft reference material, product experience, and any white paper or technical article. It is also suggested that any user have 6 months experience with the product before taking the test. I used this book as part of my test prep and got a 900. However, I also scoured every resouce I could locate as well this book. I also have used Professional since the early Beta exams. Folks, Windows 2000 is a much bigger, more complex system than Windows NT 4.

In addition to the material covered here, detailed questions regarding active directory, RIS, and device support can be included on the test.

This book seems to cover the needs for the MS 70-210 exam but NOT recomended for beginers.After finishing with it you will be able to implement and administrate Windows 2000 proffesional.This book actually teaches you the os and not just pass the exam, so if thats what you want fair enough if its just the exam ,well look for something else a bit easyer that you will probarly find in Amazon.

This book is fairly well organized into 25 chapters, each of which is made up of two to six lessons and followed by an brief review quiz (with answers in an appendix). Basic coverage is afforded to most of the 70-210 exam objectives, but mastery of this material will not be sufficient test preparation. It would be highly advisable to supplement this text with additional research and practice in key exam areas, which are specified on Microsoft's website. As another reviewer pointed out, it would also be good to familiarize yourself with concepts from the Server exam (70-215) and perhaps other core exams (70-216, 70-217).

I found this book tedious to slog through. It is padded with redundancies, prolix descriptions of dialog boxes, and other filler. It could have done with more screen captures instead. Estimated lesson times are conveniently provided, but tend to be too optimistic. Practice exercises (some of which require a networked computer) appear fairly frequently and may or may not be integral to their respective lessons. This makes studying away from a PC impractical.

After using Windows 2000 Professional for a few months, reading this book, consulting newsgroups, taking various practice drills on the web, and reading study notes and technical articles (both official and unofficial), I finally took the exam. It was harder than expected, but I passed. If I could do it over, I would look for a different study guide -- one that's concise, with better explanations.

I'd have to disagree with the reviewers that have stated that reading this book alone is inadequate to pass the exam. I read it over the course of the day before I took the exam and did fine -- this was my only study source. I had never taken a Microsoft test before the WIN2K Pro exam, but I have been working with Windows 2000 (mostly with Server/IIS) for a little over a year.

Truthfully, either this book nailed everything I needed to know in a format that was easy to understand and remember or I ought to be a bit disappointed with the simplicity of Microsoft's Windows 2000 MCP certification exams. The book presupposes some basic I.T. and networking knowledge and acronyms, but I did not find it to be utterly hostile to novices, as some other readers have implied.

I would insist that the material presented here is relevant -- at least 90% of the questions that I got on the exam were covered in adequate detail in this book.

While I easily passed the exam using only this book and brainbuzz.com's free study notes, there were topics on the exam not covered in the book. If your're aiming for an MCSE, I suggest you study all four of the core study guides, and then take the tests. Microsoft has acknowledged the interdependence of the tests in offical training, where the four classes don't correspond one-to-one to the four exams. These books don't either.