Truth be told, you can find many sites that provide exam dumps, CISCO, MS et al.
For a fact, MS exams have gotten much harder, MS has done alot to improve the complexity of some exams. For a fact.
1) Check how many MCSE have upgrade there Cert to 2003
2) How many MCSE : Security on W2k3 are there.
And from what i have seen on the beta Exams for Vista and Exchange 2007, the complexity will increase.
The proof is always in the experince of the engineer, there are many certified, persons who have only been certifed by reading. I have interviewed many many guys, and i use the same question to stump the all the while.
My point is, certify you self, but ensure you know your product internally, MS ,CISCO or any other vendor.