10/22/2008 -- Microsoft's Second Shot offer -- which allows you to retake an exam you've failed without charge -- keeps adding more to the deal. At this rate, it's starting to resemble a late-night infomercial ("But wait! If you call now, you'll also receive...")

The latest perk? A 25 percent discount on a future exam for those who sign up through Second Shot and pass on the first try.

The offer is effective from Oct. 15 to Dec. 31, and applies to all developer, Dynamics and IT professional certification exams (pretty much everything except the academic exams). The discounted future exam must be taken before Feb. 28, 2009.

Citrix Offers Retake Promotion
In the spirit of second chances, Citrix has just announced its Take 2 offer, available now until the end of the year. The Take 2 program offers two chances to take each Citrix exam that you purchase, just in case you fail the first attempt.

Unlike similar programs, this one requires that you purchase a voucher that's priced slightly higher than if you just signed up to take the exam once. That additional amount is either $25 or $45, based on the difficulty (or "tier") of the exam. The offer is only good through VUE testing centers.

New Security+ Exam Now Live
The updated Security+ certification exam from CompTIA went live on Oct. 14. Known as the 2008 edition or SY0-201, it's a significant revision from the previous exam (2002) and now breaks the objectives into six domains:

• Assessments and audits
• Systems security
• Organizational security
• Network infrastructure
• Cryptography
• Access control

Exam takers get 90 minutes to answer approximately 100 multiple-choice questions. The passing score is 750 (on a scale from 100 to 900) and the standard (non-CompTIA member) price is $258. More information on the updated Security+ exam can be found here.