Certified computer engineers are always in demand, and the MCSE certificate is among the most popular. You can take intensive courses, but many people take the self-taught route, using books and CD-ROMs.

New Riders publish a series of books to help you study for certification, and the Exam Gear CD-ROM is part of the process. A simple Windows application acts as a window into a database of exam questions, based on the questions used by Microsoft. This CD-ROM covers implementing and supporting Windows 98.

The Exam Gear CD-ROM takes three approaches to testing your knowledge, each suitable for a different part of your study. The first approach is the Study Mode, which allows you to skip through a series of questions--which are marked as you go, and give you an explanation for the correct answer if you make a mistake. Once you've got an understanding of the material that is being examined, you can try a fixed-form Practice Exam. This chooses a random selection of questions from the Exam Gear database, and allows you to work through a timed exam. Since exams now use adaptive questions to test your knowledge, changing their question patterns based on how you've answered previous questions, New Riders also give you the opportunity to learn using a sample Adaptive Exam.

If you're about to start working on getting certified as an MCSE or a CCNA, these CD-ROMs will be a useful addition to your library of tools and texts. They won't help you pass the exams on their own, but they will certainly help you in your revision and preparation. --Simon Bisson

From Library Journal
CD-ROM For programmers serious about passing their certification exams, these two products in the new ExamGear series offer solid computer-based instruction, including study tools, direct help mentored learning (access to certified trainers via discussion groups), and adaptive exams. Like the real tests, these require a significant level of mastery to pass and include single-response, multiple-choice answers; ratings; ordered lists; full simulations; and scenario-based questions. The information is well organized, the installation is seamless, and the interface is excellent. The only drawback is that neither the booklet that comes with each CD-ROM nor the CD-ROM itself has a good searchable index. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"ExamGear" is a complex software suite that allows a candidate to truly test his comprehension of materials to prepare for an exam. This book/CD-ROM set prepares readers for MCSE exam 70-098.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal