The extent of the rolling updates to the A+ certification exams from CompTIA are now known. While it was announced earlier that the exams would be updated to include Windows 7 coverage, there were a few questions as to the size of the changes. Those questions have now been answered, and the following are the changes that will be incorporated into the 220-701 ( A+ Essentials) exam:

• Domain 3.0 (Operating Systems and Software) will now include the following: "Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate." This does not replace any of the other operating systems that were already listed and thus the candidate is still required to know the details on various editions of Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

• There are three additions to objective 3.1 (Compare and contrast the different Windows Operating Systems and their features) : "Windows 7 32-bit vs. 64-bit," "Windows OS Upgrade Advisor" and "Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit."

• Beneath objective 3.2 (Given a scenario, demonstrate proper use of user interfaces), "Libraries in Windows 7" has been added beneath Windows Explorer.

• Beneath objective 3.3 (Explain the process and steps to install and configure the Windows OS), the subobjective "User data migration -- User State Migration Tool (USMT)" was added.

• Domain 4.0 (Networking) will now include beneath objective 4.1 (Summarize the basics of networking fundamentals, including technologies, devices and protocols) the following sub-objective:

• IPv6 vs. IPv4
• Address length differences
• Address conventions

The changes to exam 220-702 (Practical Application) include the addition of the same Windows 7 editions to Domain 2.0 (Operating Systems), and the addition of "Windows 7" to objective 2.2 (Differentiate between Windows Operating System directory structures). The only other change is the addition of the sub-objective "Vista/Windows 7 User Account Control (UAC)" beneath the Operating systems section of objective 4.2 (Implement security and troubleshoot common issues).

Microsoft Hosting Certified Career Conference
Microsoft is hosting a virtual conference on Nov. 18 to connect employees and employers with discounts on attendance available for those who are Microsoft-certified and students. Plans for the event include a career fair, sessions on improving resumes, technical sessions on technology, and exam review sessions ("Prepare for your MCP and MOS certification exams").

More information, as well as registration, can be found here.

IT Books of the Week: Official Ubuntu Book and Official Ubuntu Server Book
Two books on Ubuntu were updated recently and arrived on the bookshelf within a month of each other. While it is not normally a good idea to mix two reviews together, given the subject matter, overlap in authoring, etc., in this case it is the best approach.

The Official Ubuntu Book is now in its fifth edition and written by Benjamin Mako Hill, Matthew Helmke, Corey Burger, Jonathan Jesse, Kyle Rankin and Jono Bacon. The majority of the authors are associated with Ubuntu in a way that sounds like a who's who of dream teams: Ubuntu governance board, administrator of Ubuntu forums, Ubuntu Marketing and News team, Ubuntu Documentation Team and Ubuntu community manager. The 11 chapters of the book cover all the information needed for a novice to be up and running Ubuntu in no time and the DVD includes the desktop edition of 10.04 LTS.

The Official Ubuntu Server Book is now in its second edition and -- rightfully -- over a third larger than the desktop book. It is written by Kyle Rankin and Benjamin Mako Hill, and the writing style is unmistakable. Lest you think one book is a subset of the other, the following table illustrates the difference in the chapter content between the two:

It should be apparent that the server book, which includes the server edition of 10.04 LTS on the accompanying DVD, is an extension of the basic book and the two complement each other well. Working through these two titles, you'll find everything you need to administer a small to medium size Ubuntu installation with confidence.