10/20/2003 -- Today Microsoft officially announced its roster of 2003 Microsoft Office Specialist (formerly MOUS) exams.

Exams offered in the 2003 track will be:

• Microsoft Office Word 2003
• Microsoft Office Word 2003 Expert
• Microsoft Office Excel 2003
• Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Expert
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
• Microsoft Office Access 2003
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

Passing any one of the above exams will earn the candidate a Microsoft Office Specialist 2003 title in the chosen area. To earn the Microsoft Office Specialist Master certification, candidates must pass the Word Expert, Excel Expert and PowerPoint exam, plus either the Access or Outlook exam.

Availability for the above exams has yet to be announced. According to this page on the company's Web site, the Microsoft Word 2003 exam is now live and available at IQ testing centers worldwide. However, as of press time the requirements page still says the exam is "coming soon."

The 2000 and XP Office Specialist tracks remain available.

Microsoft said in a FAQ that there are "no plans at this time" to offer a Microsoft Project exam for the 2003 track. The company added a Project exam to the XP track months after the rest of the exams had been released.

Objectives for the exams are available though the "requirements" link above. CertCities.com will bring you more information on this story as the information become available. -Becky Nagel