2/22/2005 -- Registration for three Sun Solaris 10 beta exams is now open.

The beta for the new Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 10 OS, Part 1 exam (CX-310-200) will officially begin Feb. 28 and last through March 18. Objectives for this exam can be found here.

The beta for the Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 10 OS, Part II exam (CX-310-202) will launch March 2 and close March 22. Objectives for this beta are here.

The new Sun Certified Network Administrator for Solaris 10 OS (CX-310-302) beta goes live March 4 and ends March 24. Its objectives are here.

Candidates can register for all three betas at Prometric testing centers by phone or via the Web. The betas are free and count toward certification, but those who want to participate in the Network Administrator beta must show proof of holding a System Administrator title on an earlier version of Solaris in order to receive a exam voucher from Sun.

The company announced plans for the new Solaris 10 exams in September. At that time, Sun Certification Product Manager Jim Vonick said that the company was considering adding simulation questions to the new exams. It appears those plans did not come to fruition, as the exams will contain only multiple-choice, drag-and-drop and scenario-based questions, according to the program Web site.

A live date for the exams has not been announced.

For more information on participating in these betas, go here.

In other Sun beta news, the company recently announced that it is extending its Sun Certified Java Programmer beta through March 6. This exam is offered at a reduced cost of $49 and passing counts toward certification.

More information on this beta can be found here. -Becky Nagel