Unfortunately when you read Microsoft’s overview of the objectives or skills measured in 70-528 and 70-562 carefully, you will find most of them are nearly the same and just in different layouts ,except the following additions to the subject material in.Net 3.5.ListViews,DataPagers,LinqDataSources,Ajax.And when you study the 70-528 self -paced Training Kit ,you will find 70 -528 cover many topics covered in 562 .However ,when you are reading and studying 70 -562 Pro ASP.net 3.5 in C# ,you will find most of the latter’s contents focusing more on Linq ,Ajax and Silverlight ,which is not very important for 70-562 ,but is interesting anyway. So, in my opinion, the primary differences will be in the new features added to ASP.NET 3.5 as well as AJAX and some Silverlight.

When you have passed the 70-536, you decide on going down the ASP.net route for your next exam or certification. Maybe this question came across your mind :which exam 70-528 or 70-562 you should choose ?In other word ,which technology is your end goal to be certified on ,.net 3.5 or .net 2.0 ?When you read these questions ,I think if you have read the above comparison, you should have your own answer. However, here I have some of my opinions for reference.

First of all, I think the decision is entirely based on what you want or need from your MCTS certification. Which you choose will depend on which version of the framework you want to focus on.

1. if you want to show certification on both 2.0 and 3.5 ,you can starting on .net 2.0 and go MCPD .net 3.5 track to upgrade your MCTS.net 2.0 certification.

2. If you are a developer and more experienced with asp.net 2.0, in my opinion, you can consider .net 2.0 exams .What you should know is you have more advantages in .net 2.0 framework.

3.In fact ,If I were you ,I would select the newer 70-562 .Not only do I prefer to keep up the main stream ,but also I have some reasons as follows :

1. So far, my experience in asp.net has only been in Visual Studio 2008.

2.70-562 is the latest version of .Net 3.5 exams, and most likely to be in demand .You know, the technology never stopping its steps toward .The latest technology always have some advantage. Besides, less people should have the latest MCTS on .net 3.5 cert.

3.70-562 exam covers aspects of the previous exam, as well as newer .net 3/3.5 content. When I get .net 3.5 cert, I think my knowledge is “compatible towards” .net 2.0 .Also, I can deal with the problems in .net 2.0.

4. Visual studio 2008 and .net 3.5 are most likely to be the main stream technology in my working environment. In my opinion, what every candidate for .net certification should know is what technology is in your working environment or will be the stream .You could not fall behind the market.

Finally, what I should emphasize is nobody can give your useful choice about your future or career. Everybody should give your own choice according as its existence.

                                   

• Microsoft Preparation Guide
• Web-based Client Development – Free Skills Assessment
• MeasureUp practice test (150 questions)
• Wikibook MCTS textbook

Exam 70–536: .NET 2.0 Application Development Foundation

• Microsoft Preparation Guide
• MeasureUp practice test (150 questions)
• MCTS 70-536 Exam Prep (book)
• Exam syllabus with MSDN links
• C# Online.NET Study Guide