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Last week, Microsoft released Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) beta at their Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). Monday, I received noticed that I needed to install it on my work system. Like most updates, it took minutes to install and I was back to work-as-usual.

For many enterprises, the release of SP1 beta is the green flag to begin testing and deploying Windows 7.  If you’re an IT professional now is the time to start mastering the intricacies of installing and maintaining Windows 7 systems.

A great way to start is by signing up to receive free Microsoft Press online book chapters about Windows 7. Chapters are from “Windows 7 Step by Step,” “Windows 7 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant,” and six other books. Learn more and sign up to receive Windows 7 chapters. 

If you’re currently certification in Windows XP or 2000, you might want to explore your options for growing your Windows skills. If you’re new to certification or simply want to discover training resources, visit the Windows 7 training portal.

And don’t forget to visit the many resources on the Windows Client TechCenter and TechNet such as this recently published Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals.

• MCPD: Windows Developer 4
• MCPD: Web Developer 4
• MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Data Access
• MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Service Communication Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Windows Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Web Applications
• MCTS: Microsoft Dynamics C5 2010 Payroll
• MCTS: Microsoft Dynamics C5 2010 Programming
• MCTS: Microsoft Dynamics C5 2010 Advanced Programming
• MCTS: Microsoft Dynamics C5 2010 System Consultant
• MCTS: Microsoft Dynamics C5 2010 Project

The MCITP: Installation and Configuration for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 certificate is also not available via the Certificate Manager tool and we are targeting the beginning of September for when this certificate will be available.

We understand the importance of having your certificate available after you earn your certification and apologize for the inconvenience in the delay. We are currently working through the process of releasing the impacted certificates to our Certificate Manager tool and will be making them available as soon as possible.

We're on hiatus for the summer, but if you missed any of the Live Meetings for Managers you can view on-demand any time. Check out the great presentations created specifically to help managers of IT professionals and developers understand the value of certification for their teams, take advantage of training opportunities, and ensure employees have the skills to perform at their very best.

Whatever happened to the MCSE? (and what’s this MCITP?)
Learn how current Microsoft certifications —Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS), Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP), and Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)— measure up and work together to help you identify skilled candidates and validate knowledge of current Microsoft technologies.

Best Practices in IT Staff Skills Development 
Keith Mayer, Microsoft Certified Learning Consultant, explains how enterprise organizations are successfully leveraging Microsoft learning and certification resources to build structured IT skills development plans.

Get Ahead with Microsoft Software Assurance Benefits
Learn how to lower your training costs and ready your team for Microsoft technologies by maximizing your Software Assurance benefits, including training vouchers, services for deployment, and much more.

The Business Value of Windows 7 – Training for ROI
Robert Kratzke explains how training and MCTS and MCITP certifications on Windows 7 can help insure a successful implementation and provide a faster return on your investment.

The Truth About Certification Exams
Join psychometrician Liberty Munson for a behind-the-scenes look into how Microsoft works to help ensure that certification exams are a valid measure of technical skills.

Exam Forensics and What Microsoft Is Doing to Catch the Cheaters
Hear what Microsoft and other organizations are doing to protect certification from "brain-dump" providers, proxy test-takers, and score-report fraud.

If you want to get our new Live Meetings for Managers schedule as soon as its published, sign up to receive information and special offers exclusively for IT tem managers.

Check out all the new titles that have been released! We've just added Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010/Sharepoint integration deep-dive Web cast,and a series of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, NAV 2009 and CRM 4.0 eLearning and  Learning Snacks! Just sign into PartnerSource to get the latest and greatest!

Hello Born to Learners,

After a deep dive into Microsoft Learning certification, the American Council on Education College Recommendation Reviewers (ACE), has recommended 21 Microsoft exams/certifications for college credit! 

By connecting Microsoft Certification with college credit, it helps us bridge the gap to merging workforce training with higher education.  Now, when you pass one of the 21 recommended Microsoft certifications/exams, you are able to receive college credit!  In addition, if you have taken the exams within the last 3 years you can also get credit through the ACE transcript service.  By receiving a college equivalency recommendation, this also makes Microsoft certifications eligible for Corporate Tuition Assistance!  This means that if your company offers Corporate Tuition Assistance as a benefit and you would like to take a Microsoft Certification, 21 are now eligible for Corporate Tuition Assistance Funding.  Please keep in mind that each company has differing policies, so please connect with your Human Resources department for more information. 

To learn more about the certifications and exams recommended for college credit, please visit the ACE National Guide for a description of Microsoft Learning, details on each certifications/exams, and next steps for receiving credit. 

Below is a list of the certifications/exams, credit recommendation, and associated level (lower = community college and freshman – sophomore; upper = more senior level)

In addition to Microsoft Technical Certifications, you may also receive college credit for passing Microsoft Office Certifications for 2003, 2007 and 2007! Visit our Microsoft Learning Website for more information 

Interested in getting credit? Follow these steps:

1.   ENROLL IN THE ACE TRANSCRIPT SERVICE

• Register online with ACE at http://www.acenet.edu/transcripts/register. Once enrolled in the ACE Transcript Service, you can list all of your educational achievements, including Microsoft Certifications and Exams on your ACE transcript. An ACE transcript is a secure, universally accepted document with easy-to-read descriptions, ACE college credit recommendations, and suggested transfer areas. The transcript can be sent at any time to the college or university of your choice.

2.  SUBMIT YOUR CERTIFICATIONS FOR VERIFICATION

• After you have registered with ACE, you will be able to search the ACE Course Catalog for the exams you have passed. Microsoft Technical Certifications are listen under Microsoft Corporation, and Microsoft Office Specialist certifications are listed the organization Certiport. Add the certifications that you have earned to your ACE course list. You will need to enter the date that you received with each certification. When you are finished adding exams to your course list, select “Send Your Record for Review” to send your exams to Certiport to verify. Once your courses have been verified by Certiport and Prometric (Exam Delivery Providers) you will receive an e-mail confirmation from ACE. After you have received your e-mail from ACE, you can access your updated ACE transcript.

3.   SEND YOUR ACE TRANSCRIPT TO YOUR SCHOOL

•  Log in to the ACE website at www.acenet.edu/transcripts and submit a transcript request to ACE. ACE will forward your official ACE transcript to the college or university of your choice. At that time, you will need to pay a one-time fee (currently $40 USD) to activate your ACE Transcript account. The fee covers the cost of your first transcript. Additional transcripts can be requested for a nominal fee.  

Thank you!

Alissa Goldstein

Program Manager, IT Academy

Playing catch-up with some new pages we’ve posted to our site recently—thought you guys might be interested to know:

• Microsoft Technology Associate: find out all about our new entry-level certification here.
• FAST University: Technical training on search technology for IT Pros and developers here.
• New Learning Snack: Creating an Internet E-mail account (yeah, I know you guys know how to do this, but maybe you know someone who doesn’t)
• MCM Case Study: If you’re considering investing in our Master certification, you might want to read this document.

Do you have work experience focused on AppFabric and API specific development tasks associated with Windows Azure applications? Want to help us create the first Windows Azure exam? Here’s your chance! We are looking for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for the following exam:

• 70-583    TS: Windows Azure, Development

We’ll be using the MSL SME database to find participants for blueprinting as well as other phases of development for this exam. For your best chance of participating, create a SME profile by filling out the survey on the MSL SME site on Microsoft Connect. (See this post for complete instructions.)

Please note that if you already filled out your SME profile, you’ll need to go back and update it. Krista changed the answer options for “Which technologies do you have work experience with?” to include Windows Azure. We’ll be looking for folks who selected Windows Azure on this question to help develop this exams. If you filled out your SME profile awhile ago, this option was not available for you to select.

Today we had over 1,000 developers take part in Windows Phone 7 Jump Start Session 1 and Session 2. It was a great event with lots of jokes, demos, and fun. Windows Phone 7 Jump Start training continues on Thursday. In fact, registration is still open for Session 3 and Session 4. Feel free to sign up if you haven't already. Here's what to expect for the remaining two sessions:

• July 22 – 8am (PST): Session Three:  Advanced Windows Phone Development
• July 22 – 1pm (PST): Session Four:  Selling Your Windows Phone Solutions & Wrap Up

For more details, see the Windows Phone 7 Jump Start blog, forum, and class resource page (for hand outs and demo files used for each session).

Please note:

1.       Microsoft Official Courses (MOC) are instructor-led training courses offered by our Certified Partners.  Not all classes will be offered by all partners.  Find a training center through Class Locator and see if they will be offering the course you need.

2.       Community Courses (CC) are instructor-led training courses offered by our Certified Partners wherein the content is authored by our learning community.

3.       General Availability for MOC and CC is dependent on our Certified Partners, but the earliest is Orderable Date + 7 days.

4.       Products with no link currently don’t have a URL – search for the course in the training catalog

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Essential Business Server

Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Microsoft Office 2010

 Microsoft Essential Business Server

 Microsoft Windows Server 2008

A new version of LCDS, the Microsoft Learning Content Development System, is always great news. This is a very valuable and professional tool for anyone in the Microsoft Learning community who wishes to create high-quality and interactive online courses.

Using LCDS, you can publish e-learning courses by completing the easy-to-use LCDS forms that seamlessly generate highly customized content, including interactive activities, quizzes, games, assessments, animations, demos, and other instructionally engaging elements.

Download LCDS v2.5 now!

New v2.5 feature for learners and authors of E-Learning courses and Learning Snacks include:

• LCDS authoring is 64 bit–compatible
• E-learning created is compatible with Firefox 3.5.9 and Firefox 3.6.3
• New Silverlight 4 Media Player for animations that includes closed captioning and full screen option
• Enhanced keyboard accessibility for the sort and tile games, adventure interactivity, and Voice of the Expert element
• LCDS authoring and e-learning created are completely Microsoft Silverlight 4.0–compatible
• Content is now permitted at the Lesson level (previously, the SCO was the Lesson so this was not possible)

Also available on the site are 7 localized LCDS v2.3 versions: Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese Simplified, Russian, Hindi, Polish, Turkish, and Spanish.