Microsoft Certification in .NET - Visual Studio 2005 & 2008 - MCTS

Microsoft is offering certification in .NET Technologies with a categorization for Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 in different streams of the IDE. But most of the professionals are lot confused about the certification path and due to that they refrain from taking one. I would like to make a brief about the certification path here. There are basically two levels of certification:
1. MCTS - Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist - It will be explained below
2. MCPD - Microsoft Certified Professional Developer - You can more about in the next blog

MCTS - Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist

Exam 70-536: Microsoft .NET Framework – Application Development Foundation - This is the basic requirement exam for all the MCTS certification exams on VS 2005 and 2008. It needs to be passed for all the Certifications on VS 2005 and 2008. This is to be passed only once. But it doesn't provide any certification by itself. But by passing this you will become an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional).

There are different MCTS certifications available according to the stream of interest.

1. Visual Studio 2005 
• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0: Windows Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-526: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - Windows-Based Client Development
• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0: Web Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70–528: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - Web-based Client Development 
• MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0: Distributed Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-529: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - Distributed Application Development 
2.  Visual Studio 2008
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Presentation Foundation Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-502: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Presentation Foundation Application Development
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Communication Foundation Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-503: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – Windows Communication Foundation Application Development
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Workflow Foundation Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-504: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – Windows Workflow Foundation Application Development
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-505: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Application Development
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-561: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Application Development
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Applications - Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-562: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Application Development

 More information about these exams you can find at Microsoft Learning Web Site. Select your path and succeed as a certified professional