[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link. ]
“‘Upgrade or Die!’ … Well, maybe Microsoft isn’t saying that
directly…unless you’re an MCSE; if you are, then that is exactly
the message you’re getting from Redmond, loud and clear.”
“As most MCSE’s are aware by now, if you want to retain the
certification, you must upgrade your certification to Win2k
standards, else you’re liable to be left out in the cold. Microsoft
will officially retire the NT 4.0 MCSE come this December. There is
of course a 12-month grace period, after which your MCSE (or even
MCP) will expire. For those who have an MCSE as a necessary part of
their careers, this seems a bit odd, to say the least. After all,
Windows 2000 isn’t gaining much in the way of sales, and most
companies feel that Win2k won’t see any action on their networks
for the next two to three years, or at least until some service
packs come out. Sure there is an impressive (yet surprisingly
small) list of big-name companies who use Win2k right now. However,
they’re being heavily subsidized with discounted product costs and
a ton of MS support… MS does this so that they have that list of
names, a list placed in adverts and shouted to the public in effect
that: “See? XYZ corporation uses Windows 2000 and they love
it!…”
“If Microsoft is so concerned about keeping IT professionals
“up-to-date” on technology, then why haven’t we seen more from MS
about interoperability with *ix and Macintosh systems? Where are
the Microsoft courses on practical connectivity in true
heterogeneous environments? I know the MOC (MS official
curriculum) says that they support such a thing, but apparently MS
hasn’t gotten around to really teaching their candidates how to
actually do it… I defy anyone to find a single lab or official
course of instruction from Microsoft in how one connects a Unix
workstation to an NT server, or vice-versa. The only move MS has
made in the heterogeneous direction: How to get basic IPX/SPX
connectivity, and then how to go about converting one’s network
servers from Novell to NT.”