Don Kitchen

family, kids, tech, and more…

Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’

Growing up with Microsoft

March 3rd, 2011

I first got started with computers back in the 80′s with a Tandy 1000 Series computer and used MS-DOS quite a bit. I then graduated from DOS and worked my way through all the Windows versions over the years. Today I came across this blog post that shows what happens if you try to upgrade a machine from MS-DOS to Windows 7. Watching this really took me back and made me realize how I really have grown up with Microsoft over the years.

I still use Windows 7 daily at work today and for various non-work related programming. I have also branched out and use Mac OS X for all of my core personal computing these days. What really shocked me about the video in was that it showed that you really can take a computer from MS-DOS and apply 20 years worth of software upgrades to it and have it still work. I must say I was impressed by this and Microsoft actually earned back some of my respect!

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the earlier versions of Windows or MS-DOS (Disk Operating System), enjoy this video!

1 comment »

Posted in software, windows

Tags: DOS Microsoft MS-DOS windows

Going for MCTS certification on Visual Studio 2008

April 23rd, 2009

I have been dragging my feet for the past few years in regards to finishing up my Microsoft development certification. Actually, the last test I took was 70-229 Designing and Implementing Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition back on Dec 08, 2003. WOW, I had no idea it was that long until I just looked it up.

Anyway, what finally got me to get moving was a great voucer/coupon I got via email from Prometric, the testing company I used last time. Not sure if it’s specific to me because I’m already a MCP (yes, I passed that test from years ago) or not but I’ll share it just in case it does work for others…

…Improving and validating your technical skills can help.

That is why Prometric is providing a limited offer to the first 4,000 individuals to help get your Microsoft Certified Professional status current or achieve an additional certification.

Offer available for customers who have taken their last certification exam prior to January 1, 2007.

Use this promo code ‘MCPBACK’ and get a $25 USD Certification (Normally priced at $125 USD). This offer is valid for any exam in the MCTS/MCPD/MCITP track. Does not include Microsoft Office or Windows end-user (non-IT) focused exams.

Go to: www.Prometric.com/microsoft to sign-up for your next exam.

But you better hurry!
You must take your exam by June 30, 2009.

Offer valid in US and Canada only.

My plan is to obtain the MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Applications certification related to Visual Studio 2008. What I’m going to do is take the C# test rather than VB.NET, which is what I mainly use here at work. I can work in C# and have written a few things in it, but my main language since I’ve been working in .NET has been VB.NET.

I figure this will be a good way to become more familiar with C# and will force me to learn the language. Once you’ve been working with .NET for a while and looking through code samples on Google you’ll quickly realize that the majority of the code samples out there are done in C#. So, as you can imagine, converting those to VB.NET can be frustrating after a while.

So, we’ll see how it goes. I only spent $25 to book the test and another $44 to upgrade my copy of MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft® .NET Framework Application Development Foundation to the second edition. I picked up the first edition a year or two ago when I first decided I wanted to get the MCTS and only got about 1/2 way through it.