Section 3: Operating Systems

The CompTIA A+ 2006 Essentials exam is updated to include Microsoft Windows 2000, XP Professional, XP Home, and Media Center. You are fortunate to not have to look back to DOS and Windows 95!

You will have to know some fundamentals for upgrading from Windows 95 and NT, but these topics are fairly easy to understand in the context of the potential questions on the exam.

Windows 2000 and XP represent a new more stable core for Microsoft Windows. Both Operating Systems feature wide device driver support, multimedia, and a much more secure and easy to use system.

In this section, you will learn the core functions of the OS, how people interact with it, how install, configure, and upgrade the OS, and troubleshooting techniques when problems arise. This section is 21% of the overall exam, so it is extremely important to understand the concepts presented in this section. We recommend installing Virtual PC on your computer and installing Windows 2000 and Windows XP to really play around with the features you are learning here without fear of breaking your primary computer. Virtual PC is free from Microsoft, but you must be licensed for any OS you install in it.

Additionally, we added a section on Windows Vista so you can understand the core differences between this Operating System and its predecessors. Many of the functions are the same, but Vista does have many new features which you will appreciate in your role as a support technician. Learnthat.com has a free Windows Vista Fundamentals course if you’re unfamiliar with the OS, this course will help you understand many of the new features. Currently Microsoft Windows Vista is not on the A+ 2006 Essentials exam, but that might change at any time.