11/19/2008 -- Right on the heels of one .NET exam being released to beta testing, Microsoft has released another. This time, it's 70-565 Pro: Designing and Developing Enterprise Applications Using the .NET Framework 3.5.

As the name implies, it's a Professional level exam for developers and those who pass it in beta will earn the Microsoft Certified Professional Developer: Enterprise Application Developer 3.5 title. The exam is currently available until Dec. 3 at Prometric testing centers worlwide, except in China, India and Pakistan. While in beta, the exam is numbered 71-565.

The exam objective guide indicates that the test targets professionals who possess a fairly wide breadth of experience working with Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5, with a majority of the exam measuring candidates on designing and application framework and application components.

Like most high-level Microsoft developer exams, this one should be attempted only by the heart-strong, as Microsoft lists no training resources for this exam in its guide. Also, candidates should also have completed exams for any of the following Technology Specialist titles:

• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5 ADO.NET Applications
• MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Communication Foundation Applications

Exam 70-565 is expected to go live in January 2009.

The beta is free to those who provide the promo code when registering for the exam; for the code, click here. Michael Domingo