Howdy -- I can answer some of the questions...
1. what are recommended books for the exam
- The
EJB 2.0 spec - REQUIRED!
- the O'Reilly EJB book (newest edition... third?)
- the Ed Roman book (mastering EJB)
- after August, the study guide from O'Reilly (written by me and Bert

)
2. what is the passing percentage
- We do not know yet; the exam must go through beta-testing first, and the pass percentage is determined from the results of the beta
test.
3. what is the best way to prepare for exam and how long does it take to prepare for the exam.
- Nobody knows this yet, since nobody has taken the exam, but it should be similar to preparing for the Web component developer exam. In other words, study and practice, and do mock exam questions. If you are taking the beta, there is very little time and virtually no mock exams.
(But, between Kimberly and Bert and I, we *will* post at least one mock exam per objective BEFORE June 4th!)
4. What are the advantages of giving this exam.
- I'll leave that to others to discuss
5. Is it good to appear for xml certification or SCBCD , i know both are totally different exams but still like to know the benifits of getting certified in SCBCD.
I passes SCJP and SCWCD with the help of javaranch and expect the same for this exam.
- again, I'll leave to others to discuss
cheers,
Kathy