An A+ History question

Rae W

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  • Jan 20, 2022
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    Columbus, Ohio, USA
    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?
     
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    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).
     
    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.
     
    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).
     
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    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!!!!
     
    In 1994, A+ certification required passing only one exam:
    220-001 A+ Service Technician Exam (retired 1996)
    That was the name of the hardware exam (service technician), not the OS exams :)
    Of course, there was nothing wrong with just writing that exam if you just serviced hardware at the time.
     
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    Please share some more information. What year did you first earn A+? What were the exam numbers for the two tests you took?
    Exam numbers? Those have long been removed from my memory, as are any older certificates as I threw out older versions of exams as I wrote newer ones (but I kept all the lapel pins ;-). I would have written the first exams in late spring 1994 because the university I was working at wanted me to write them at that time. And a quick search for "original CompTIA" on Google turned up this:




    The only error from the original Reddit poster is that you didn't need to write all 3 exams - in your case, writing the hardware exam would have earned you the certificate and letter the Reddit poster posted, while writing the Mac or DOS/Win exams would have earned you another certificate, letter, card, and lapel pin. I remember writing the DOS/Win exam the next day following the hardware technician exam, but ended up waiting many more months before writing the Mac exam (which I didn't need, but I wanted the second version of the lapel pin and the university paid for the exam).
     
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