I've used two preparation guides, this one and the one from Sybex. MSPress is definitely the best of these two books. Covers it all, the sybex version is too superficial and just does not cover it all, it actually lacks some important material.

This book contains lots of exercises, so you get hands on experience with all kinds of tools. Believe me, you are going to need it! The actual exam contains several simulations, so just reading about the available tools, options and functions is just not enough.

Futhermore every chapter ends with a small case study with some questions all of course regarding to stuff outlined in the chapter.

Without this book I would not have passed, both exams.

I used this book as a primary study guide for the 2003 upgrade exams and although it doesn't cover all the material, it is an excellent book and in my humble opinion the single best source of prepartion.

From what I've gathered, the exams changed sometime in late 2005 and some of the content is dated. That however is not the fault of the authors and unlike many of the "Microsoft Press" books, I found this an enjoyable and easy read.

The book is not indended to deeply review the "Core MCSE Curriculum". Its' audience is expected to be familiar with Windows 2000 engineering and administrative principles as well as a practicing administrator. The text will present content that is now covered under the exam (ie: high availibility services and certificate services)and features that are differential to the old product line. So do not expect this to be your sole source for content, at best it covers 80% of the exam's breadth. If you feel in the learch, I can only suggest brushing up on your 2000 or 2003 core infrastructure notes especially dealing with the subjects of GPOs and Site design\ AD-replication.

Subjects that are missing from the book that require research are EMS (in-band\ out of band services), Role Separation for Cerificate services and WIFI GPO administrative practices. A list of references to supportive documentation can be found in the study notes at [...] . The webpage's host has done an admirable job of putting them together.

In final preparation for the exam, I can only suggest Transcenders as a simulation software...accept no other. CBT nuggets has some great multi-media presentations available through their website to aid in reviewing the material and their content is first class.


Good Luck

This book covers the essentials skills to upgrade to your certification to Windows Server 2003. However, it does cover many topics that you already knew from your Windows 2000 experience, which sometimes are topics you don't want to read about because for the most part, you expected to read only about the improvements and changes from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003. In spite of this, it is a GREAT source of information for people with little experience with Windows 2000.

There are not many pictures, and the content is brought out in a very slow way. In other words, the material is mostly there, but you fall asleep reading all the fluff before getting to what you actually need to know. I love reading, but the format of this book makes the content difficult to swallow. I would suggest to get a different book.