Red Hat management decided long ago not to run the certification exams in the Internet Browsers (like many other companies did), but to use a customized Fedora Live USB system, probably in an effort to protect the Exam"s integrity.
Of course, this decision also brings challenges. You hardly find a Linux distribution booting on any computer ever made worldwide. If you do, let me know about it.
Buying a new computer for the exam is the worst thing you can do unless you consult with the vendor about its compatibility with Fedora 33 the exam ISO is based on and unless you test it before you buy. As you might know, every computer hardware needs drivers and modules. Unlike RedHat, the producers do not publish their computer specifications and architecture details in advance. RedHat is buying those new computers in order to test their compatibility. But anyone can join the RH community and participate in creating the drivers to make it compatible. Did you participate?
Some marginal hardware configurations, gaming computers, new technologies, or models are usually not supported or not supported fully. It is generally known building drivers and integrating them into any Linux distro may take up to 3 years. What is the chance the new Microsoft laptop/tablet with its outstanding features will be supported by several years old version of exam Fedora?
I do not think RH engineers are failing. Thousands of users were able to take the exam, many are taking the exam every day. They had or found a compatible computer to use. And those who did not can still take the exam from the classroom.
Because it is quite understandable, the exam system cannot run on everything, unfortunately.
Petr Cihlar
