But after the start of this year, CompTIA changed its tune for three of its top certifications, choosing to shorten "life" to three years.

Before getting too excited, however, it's important to walk through the whole series of changes:

CompTIA made a quiet announcement on Jan. 11 that as of Jan. 1 (thus making it retroactive), all A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications would expire after three years -- regardless of when the certification was obtained. New certificates, the company said, would have a "Valid Through" date on them, but the absence of that field on an existing certificate doesn't mean it won't expire, as well.

All other certifications were unchanged. CompTIA had decided that test takers can avoid retaking the exams necessary to first obtain certification if the certification was gained by taking tests in the 600 or 700 series, and test takers were willing to earn continuing education credits under a program set to launch in mid-year. (To keep track of credits, you'd have to pay an annual maintenance fee and use a Web-based system to submit information.)

But the outcry from CompTIA certification holders was huge and, lo and behold, the policy was revised. Under the revised change, all those who currently hold a certification -- or obtain it before Dec. 31, 2010 -- will remain certified for life and have no recertification requirement.

Effective Jan. 1, 2011, however, the exams will have the three-year shelf life and require recertification or participation in a continuing education program.

More information about this change can be found here.

LPI Job Task Analysis for High Availabilty and Virtualization
The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) is seeking community input for the Job Task Analysis (JTA) portion of exam creation for its High Availability and Virtualization exam (LPIC-304).

The top level domains for this exam are virtualization, load balancing and storage, cluster management, and message layer. The JTA process is necessary to determine the final objectives and the weighting of each on the exam when it goes live.

Currently, the exam is expected to go live in June and the objectives for exam preparation will be released Feb. 15.

Cert Product of the Week: 'CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide'
CISSP is one of the most popular exams out right now and Shon Harris is the name to know in this field when it comes to learning. Last time around, I reviewed the "CISSP Video Mentor." Equally impressive, but different in pedagogy, is the fifth edition of the "CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide."

Weighing in just under 1,200 pages, this tome goes through each of the exam's 10 domains in 10 chapters (not counting the ones on becoming a CISSP or security trends). Each chapter ends with a set of really well-crafted questions.

The accompanying CD includes the usual test engine and e-book, as well as a video excerpt from the author (think of the "Video Mentor" product). It's the best book I've seen on the topics you need to master in order to be able to pass the difficult CISSP exam.