As I was getting ready to take(or rather plan taking) my .NET 2.0 certification, I was amazed by the amount of certifications that I might have to take and also the short span of time within which I might have to update it , and the time that I have to spend on it apart from my normal work schedule

Butbased on the recent surveys(September 2005) of how much money your certifications might bring in, and on why people take certifcations, it is not bad deciding to get a certification yourself ..

Salary by Certifications: http://mcpmag.com/salarysurveys/2005/charts/chart4.aspx
Reasons for certifications: http://mcpmag.com/salarysurveys/2005/charts/chart21.aspx
Base Article: http://www.mcpmag.com/salarysurveys/

Microsoft calls thier new certifications - "New Generation of Certfications" which is a misnomer, given the fact that 3.0 mabe released very soon.. mabe i should wait for 3.0 (Thats the lazy me.. )

There are 3 levels that you might reach based upon the different certifications that you take. You can either be a Technology Specialist, Professional Developer/IT Professional or an Architect. For .NEt

 there are 3 Technology CErtification tracks

1. Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications
2. Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications
3. Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications

and 3 corresponding Professional Developer tracks

1. Professional Developer: Web Developer
2. Professional Developer: Windows Developer
3. Professional Developer: Enterprise Applications Developer

 The architect level is the highest one, and given the minimum qualifications taht you should have to take the exam, I guess that I will not be looking at it for quite a long time

Even though .NET 1.1 is not yet specified as "deprecated" by microsoft, expect it to be removed very soon in the future(another 1 year ? )

Resources: My favorite resource has always been the Exam Cram Books, especially the ones written by Amit Kalani. He has two books comming out on JUly 2006 and September 2006.

.NEt Frameowrk 2.0 Foundation Exam(July 17, 2006): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078973558X/sr=8-1/qid=1150491640/ref=sr_1_1/103-8610084-9383050?%5Fencoding=UTF8
 
Web Based Client Development (September 2006): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0789735598/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/103-8610084-9383050?%5Fencoding=UTF8

I think the Microsoft press books for these certifications are also comming next month (July 2006) For those of you who are pursuing the MCAD.NET (C#) certification, here are the notes that I had prepared from Amit Kalanis notes.

Web Services:    Web Services Zip File
Web Forms.NET : Web Forms Zip File



Will post my notes for .NEt 2.0 exams, as soon as I clear them

Hari