Here's a bit of data that web users/designers may find interesting.
This is a table of (rounded) screen resolutions and months that the data was collected. I've had a javascript function to tailor pages to the screen resolution of visitors to a few web sites, and "databased" the results. Here's how it breaks down:
2004-03 2004-10 2005-01 2005-03 640x480 2 % 0 % 1 % 1 % 800x600 34 % 30 % 24 % 23 % 1024x768 54 % 55 % 57 % 58 % 1200x960^ 11 % 15 % 18 % 19 %
So, by these numbers the ubiquitous 800x600 screen resolution that pixel-based programs have to design for are now used by fewer than one quarter of the users out there. I think that this is significant.
Also, on the certification topic, is LPI still an entity at all? For distribution-neutral certifications, I thought that it used to be the pinnacle, or at least they intended to become that, but it didn't even merit a mention in a dozen or so emails on this list.
I do agree that a task-based test is going to tend to be a more valid measure of skills than a multiple-choice, but I thought the LPIC-2 was pretty tough.
Regards,
-Don