Apple Training (Certified Professional)

[advocation]

Hey,
I'm thinking about working my way through the apple training courses (MacOS 100 Introduction to Mac OS X v10.4 for Technical Professionals,
MacOS 101 Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.4, MacOS 105 Supporting Mac OS X v10.4 for Windows Administrators, MacOS 200 Mac OS X Server Essentials v10.4).

I would be doing these "for fun", but also they would look great on a resume, and it would help being able to troubleshoot when my or my friends mac's go wrong.

I do however have some questions:

Is it a good idea to wait till Leopard comes out?
Which one would you recomend starting with? (I dont really have any technical knowledge of OSX)
Will I be able to complete them only using my Macbook Pro or will I need another machine like a server?

Thanks

 

[jane doe]

Yes, wait till after leopard.

some of the course material changes with different versions of the OS. The tools sometimes change as well.

save your money and wait a while. you will thank me later.

 

[yellow]

I do however have some questions:

Is it a good idea to wait till Leopard comes out?
Which one would you recomend starting with? (I dont really have any technical knowledge of OSX)
Will I be able to complete them only using my Macbook Pro or will I need another machine like a server?

Are you going to be purchasing the books and working your way through this on your own?

I don't think it matters if you dod it now or wait for Leopard. While there will be differences, they won't be earth shattering, and you can always retake the tests for Leopard cert.

As far as I'm concerned, Support Essentails and Server Essentials are the only ones you need, as they are the only ones required for the Apple Certified Technical Coordinator certification. If you aren't currently a Windows admin, then I don't think you'd get anything out of 105. I have no idea what 100 is, but I doubt it's terribly useful.

If you're going to go for Server Essentials, you will need multiple Macs and a copy of OS X Server. A Windows box wouldn't hurt either. You do not have to have a Mac that is a "server". Any Mac will do, as long as it meets the minimum requirements for OS X Server.


EDIT:

I glossed over this part when reading:

I would be doing these "for fun", but also they would look great on a resume, and it would help being able to troubleshoot when my or my friends mac's go wrong.

You don't need to take any of these courses for that. Save your money. Hang around a technical forum like http://forums.macosxhints.com and sponge up the knowledge there. There are a ton of very technically capable people there.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Oops

 

[yellow]

Of course, the OP is from the UK, and taxes are slightly different there, as well as prices and availability of consultant groups, no?

 

[nuckinfutz]

Of course, the OP is from the UK, and taxes are slightly different there, as well as prices and availability of consultant groups, no?

I know I realized he was in the UK and Apple doesn't even have a page where he could join the Apple Solution Expert group (which is what it was called here before Apple dubbed it Consultant's Network)

Bummer