Particular Features You Should Know About CompTIA A+ Certification and Its Exams

A+ is one of the certifications available tothe computer service technicians. Offered by the ComputingTechnology Industry Association, a non-profit trade companythat issues the professional certificates for the IT industry,thiscredentialverifiesone’s knowledge of PC software and hardware skills in computer servicing or tech support.

Brief overview of CompTIA A+ certification

CompTIA A+ was first introduced in 1993, making it one of the oldest credentials in the field of IT. Being offered by a reputable organization, it is also one of the mostwidely recognized IT badges today. Actually, CompTIA has been accredited since 2008 by ANSI (American National Standards Institute)in connection with its Conformity assessment. Currently, there are at least a million people worldwide who have already earned Prepaway .

It is a vendor-neutral certification designed to prove the competency of the entry-level PC service professionals, particularly in customizing, installing, operating, and maintaining personal computers. If you want to obtain CompTIA A+, you are required to pass two exams:

• 220-1001(Core 1);
• 220-1002(Core 2).

All in all, these tests cover the maintenance of PCs, laptops, mobile devices, operating systems, printers, as well as Cloud computing and virtualization.

Interesting changes to CompTIA A+ certification

CompTIA A+ has been updated several times:in 2003, 2006, 2012, 2015, and most recently in 2019. In this article, we will focus on the new changes, particularly on what the IT specialists and CompTIA lovers are saying out there about visit certbolt.com .

The new A+ exams(220-1001 and 220-1002) went live on January 15, 2019. It has been 4 years since the previous tests (220-901 and 220-902)were transferred from the olderones (220-801 and 220-802). This was a year longer than usual – CompTIA updates its certification exams every three years. So, there was already plenty of eagerness about what the new optionswill be.

In the new tests, there is an increased focus on cybersecurity, new objectives, and a lot more operating systems that you need to know. There are several surprising changes to both expectations and materials. Let’s see what they mean to you.

• Thenew exams dive deeper and wider in the content.

The professionals across the IT industry have reacted to the new changes, and one of their reactions is that CompTIA 220-1001 is crazily simple because the questions in it look like they have been pulled directly from a Linux or Microsoft test.Some exams from MCSA go deep. While CISSP goes wide. Taking a closer look at the objectives of the new CompTIA A+tests, they seem to take both directions, especially in the context of foundational knowledge. Actually, you can say that these exams drill deeply into Microsoft and Linux products.

For example, Section 1.0 begins by comparing the versions of Windows. It then dives deeply into command-line scenarios, permissions, and utilities. As for Linux, Section 1.9 of this exam evaluates the candidates’ understanding of Linux-specific commands and features. You can expect to find plenty of the same content in the Linux LPIC-1 test.

• The new exams are harder to pass.

Of course, it is true that there are some of the added objectives. One of the biggest additions comes to CompTIA 220-1001 in the form of a whole new set of the “Cloud Computing and Virtualization”domain. It actually coversthe topics, such as Cloud file storage, virtual applications and desktops, hypervisors, Cloud resource terminology, and Cloud models.

This is a welcome change that actually adds sophistication to the CompTIA A+ credential, increasing its value. Historically, this certificationused to be much more focused on desktop engineer support. Currently, it ismore emphasized on Cloud knowledge. Security has also been given greater prominence in the new exams. Now, the applicants must be able to prevent and remove threats, not just recognize them. Besides, there is also a section that is devoted to best practices surrounding malware prevention and its removal.

Key misconceptions about CompTIA A+ certification exams

The main mistake that most individuals make is thinking that there is no big difference between the new and old examsassociated with CompTIA A+. This tends to be a very common reaction to any new test. Nevertheless, there are a lot of similarities. For example, the passing score remains the same for the 900 and 1000 series. CompTIA 220-901 had the pass mark of 675, and this is the same for 220-1001. Also, the passing score for the new 220-1002 exam is the same as for the old version – 700.

But still, as you saw earlier, there is quite a lot that has changed. Thus, for example, CompTIA 220-901 had the following weight of the content:

• Hardware – 34%;
• Mobile Device – 17%;
• Networking – 21%;
• Hardware and Network Troubleshooting – 28%.

This is what we have in the new CompTIA 220-1001 exam objectives:

• Hardware – 27%;
• Mobile Devices – 14%;
• Networking – 20%;
• Hardware and NetworkTroubleshooting – 27%;
• Virtualization and Cloud Computing – 12%.

Conclusion

As you can see, this is a quite good change for the IT industry. It is evolving day by day and so does the certification market. This is why a lot of individuals try to take advantage of this new opportunity, so why not become one of these candidates?