An A+ History question

[Rae W]

Has A+ always been two exams? I first achieved A+ certification in 1998 and my exam codes were 220-002 and 220-003. I find it odd that that doesn't follow the *1 and *2 pattern that we're used to now and it makes me wonder if the original A+ was a single exam--maybe 220-001. (FWIW, it's apparently required two exams since 1996 at the latest.)

Anyone know for sure?

 

[jasoneckert]

A+ was always 2 exams, including the very first version in 1993: One tested hardware concepts, and one tested operating system installation.
As hardware became easier to support (no manual setting of IRQs on sound cards, yay!), A+ eventually evolved into a general "intro to IT" certification. But since the scope is very broad, it continued to be 2 separate exams so that students can prepare for half at a time (easier).

 

[Rick Butler]

Well, the first exam for A+ hit the books in 1993, and according to what we find on TestOut's website, it consisted of a single exam. So I guess @jasoneckert and I might have some conflicting information.

Reference: https://www.certmag.com/articles/25-years-past-present-possibly-troubled-future-popular-cert

You must have gotten yours just before I did. I did my A+ as 220-101/220-102 in Feb 1999, basically on a dare. Took them both on the same day. Maybe they upleveled the revisions from when you took it, eh? I remember at that time, I was slogging my way through the MCSE under NT4.

Stands to reason that 220-001 would be the first exam, with 002/003 being the two exams. However, I don't know for sure - just the reference from TestOut's site.

 

[jasoneckert]

Well, the first exam for A+ hit the books in 1993, and according to what we find on TestOut's website, it consisted of a single exam. So I guess @jasoneckert and I might have some conflicting information.

Reference: https://www.certmag.com/articles/25-years-past-present-possibly-troubled-future-popular-cert

Not everything you read on the Internet is accurate, especially when it pertains to very old stuff from the 90s

In fact, for those of us who remember the writing the first CompTIA A+ exams, for the first 3 years you actually had a choice of which OS exam to write in addition to the hardware exam. Everyone had to write the same hardware exam (which tested both PC and Mac hardware), but for the OS exam, you could choose between a version that tested Mac OS (e.g., System 7) or DOS/Win3.1. And the lapel pin and card you got after passing had little logos reflecting your choice. The Mac vs PC vibes were real back then.

Once Win95 gained traction, the OS exam focused mostly on that (with some DOS/3.11) and the Mac OS option was dropped entirely (for good reason since Apple was closed to bankrupt then and Macs were considered a niche market).

 

[Trevor Chandler]

Not everything you read on the Internet is accurate, especially when it pertains to very old stuff from the 90s

In fact, for those of us who remember the writing the first CompTIA A+ exams, for the first 3 years you actually had a choice of which OS exam to write in addition to the hardware exam. Everyone had to write the same hardware exam (which tested both PC and Mac hardware), but for the OS exam, you could choose between a version that tested Mac OS (e.g., System 7) or DOS/Win3.1. And the lapel pin and card you got after passing had little logos reflecting your choice. The Mac vs PC vibes were real back then.

Once Win95 gained traction, the OS exam focused mostly on that (with some DOS/3.11) and the Mac OS option was dropped entirely (for good reason since Apple was closed to bankrupt then and Macs were considered a niche market).

What's most alarming to me here is to learn that everything on the Internet is not accurate!
I thought the Internet was the definitive resource for all things!
It's back to the library for me!!!!

 

[Paul Willy]

That first A+ M$ OS exam was the only certification exam (out of over 100 taken), I ever got a perfect score on, with no prep.
Well, I was at IBM when the PC came out, and I did do PC/dos and MS/dos from the beginning. And I had multiple CNE's an ECNE and 2 MCSE's at that point.
OK, it would have been pretty lame if I didn't do well.