Well said Greg. I have not been kicking the CompTIA can as long as you have been, but I have already been asked to take the latest version of certain exams. Ironically, it is the training companies that a) pay the least, and b) do not provide vouchers that have the 'latest version of the exam' policy. I was told recently by one such company that my Security+ from 2022 was out of date, and to continue teaching for them I would need to take the new exam. I politely explained to them that my SecurityX, CySA+, CISSP, and CISM are all current, but that I will gladly re-sit any exam that they like... provided they pay my hourly rate for exam prep and provide me an exam voucher.
I like that Microsoft makes me spend an hour every year proving that I am still current on my certifications, and that those renewal tests (not proctored exams) focus on newer aspects of the technology in question. For Security+... what is new since 2022 that was not covered in CySA and SecX? for Network+... until there is an IPv7 or cables made out of chili peppers I think we are good. A+? NOTHING HAS CHANGED IN OVER A DECADE. 'New versions' of the exams are important for companies because they check a box... but you and I have been doing this long enough to tell those people where to place that checkmark. (As a pop culture reference, that conversation makes me feel like Red in Shawshank Redemption telling the parole board that I don't know what the hell the word rehabilitated means.)
I tell my students to maintain their CEs religiously so that they will not be required to re-sit the exams. If they don't have to then why do we?
(Now get off of my lawn, sonny! Darned kids...)