You may already be aware of the recent RTM announcement of SQL Server 2008.

Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP1 & Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 now support SQL Server 2008.

The documentation has been updated to include support for SQL Server 2008.

Please refer to:

WSS 3.0
MOSS 2007

In the next few weeks, they will publish a TechNet article that describes the benefits of running SQL Server 2008 with SharePoint Products and Technologies.

Here, they’ve highlighted a few of the benefits that SharePoint customers inherit when choosing to use SQL Server 2008:

1. Improved Manageability
Manageability and governance is important for SharePoint as well as the SQL Server database engine. Now administrators can also benefit from the new management features introduced in SQL Server 2008 – from Policy-based administration to back-up compression. For details, please refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 100).aspx.

2. High Availability
Availability in SQL Server 2008 has been improved through enhancements in data mirroring. For details, please refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 100).aspx.

3. Enhanced Data Security
The SQL Server 2008 database engine introduced new encryption functions that enhance security. SharePoint administrators can take advantage of these new encryption features by simply turning on transparent data encryption (TDE). No additional changes need to be made on the SharePoint side. For details, please refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 100).aspx.

Last but not least, don’t forget to apply SP1 on SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. Keep in mind, SP1 is also a requirement for installing on Windows Server 2008.

Here you are:

• VS 2008 SP1 download
• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 download
  

When you want to use the PeopleEditor control you need the correct refence in your custom SharePoint page.

<%
@Register TagPrefix="wssawc" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>

Add a user to the picker (c#):

ArrayList list = new ArrayList();
list.Add(
    new PickerEntity()
    {
        Key = @"DOMAIN\User"
    }
);
userPicker.UpdateEntities(list);

Retrieve selected user(s)(c#):

PickerEntity pe = (PickerEntity)userPicker.Entities[0];
string username = pe.Key;
//or if the entities are resolved
PickerEntity pe = (PickerEntity)userPicker.ResolvedEntities[0];
string username = pe.Key;

that's it
</tom>

It is very easy to add a breacrumb to your custom application page.

First of all you need to create an xml file in the
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\ folder.

Rename this new xml file like this
layouts.sitemap.*.xml where you can change * to any string you want.

then change the content of the XML file like this
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<siteMap>
<siteMapNode url="/_layouts/cutomapplicationpage.aspx"
parentUrl="/_layouts/settings.aspx" title="Custom Application Page"/>
</siteMap>

finally use
STSADM -o copyappbincontent

</tom>

Ton Stegeman [MVP] wrote a wonderful article about how to create a custom sharepoint page.

Article

However, when you are searching for the hidden

Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.WebAdminPageBase assemby

stop searching!

It is NOT in the sharepoint.dll. You must add a new reference to the Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.dll. You can find this dll here:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\CONFIG\BIN\Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.dll

nice to know not?