The A+ Certification Exam

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The A+ certification exam was developed in 1993. There have been four versions of the A+ exam, the 1993, 2003, 2006, and 2009 objectives, which are broken

down into two separate exams. Successful completion earns a designation as a "CompTIA Certified Computer Technician".The 2003 objectives contained the A+

Core Hardware Exam and the A+ Core Operating System Technologies Exam, and were retired on June 30, 2007. The 2006 objectives require that a candidate

successfully pass the A+ Essentials and one elective: IT technician, remote support technician, or depot technician. The 2009 certification requires passing

two exams: Essentials and Practical Application.

The 220-601 Exam is intended for information technology professionals who have the equivalent of 500 hours of hands on experience. The exams are computer

based and composed of multiple choice questions, of which there may be more than one correct answer. Over 800,000 people have earned the A+ credential

worldwide, to date.

Topics of the Essentials/Core examination include practical computer repair, including the ...
... installation . The focus of the exam is not theory, but practice.

Sometimes graphics are used in exam questions. Topics included in the Operating Systems Exam include memory management, configuration files, and historical

operating environments rather than newer, cutting edge technologies.

In September 2006, the CompTIA A+ test was updated so that the test taker must take the CompTIA A+ Essentials (220-601) test along with one of three other

tests (220-602, 220-603, or 220-604). Each of these elective exams offers candidates the opportunity to specialize their A+ certification to match their

desired career path.

With the introduction of the 2006 A+ exam, candidates were offered a grace period whereby both the 2003 and 2006 versions were available. As of June 2007,

the 2003 version of exams is no longer available In some countries, the grace period was extended to December 2007. The 2003 version was also extended in

cases where the A+ certification exam was included in a course of study. Also, most legacy support questions have been excluded. The existing CompTIA A+ 600

series exams remain relevant and are in use by organizations and educational institutions throughout the world. The regular, non-academic English version of

these exams will retire in the U.S. and Canada on February 28, 2010. The educational versions of these exams (JK0-601, JK0-602, JK0-603 and JK0-604), as well

as the German, Korean, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese translations of the 220-601 through 220-604 CompTIA A+ exams, will remain in the market for use until

August 31, 2010.