Hi Florian, I didn't have the time to give a try to 1.8 I'll do it next week and keep you posted.

Hi Ash, great achievement to arrive at the assessment center, I don't have the figures but there has been lots of eliminations so far. Congratulations! When is the assessment center and where? I don't have those details yet...
Concerning the training, did you have a look at my post here:http://www.remiphilippe.fr/2010/04/30/my-journey-... ? If not I'd suggest you to have a look around it should reply to quite a few questions.
If you still have questions feel free to post comments on that post (My journey to Cisco – The aNCE program) so other readers may find their replies there.

Good luck with the assessment center and keep us posted!