RJ Dudley

To run SQL Server 2008 on Windows 7, you need to update it to SP1.  There are "known issues".  Also, SQL Server 2008 BIDS will not install on Windows 7 unless you have updated VS 2008 to SP1.

If you're doing a fresh install of VS 2008 and SQL 2008 on Windows 7, install in this order:

1. VS 2008, WITHOUT SQL Server Express
2. VS 2008 SP1
3. MSDN Library for VS 2008 SP1 (if you're so inclined)
4. SQL Server 2008
5. SQL Server 2008 SP1

This will run you a couple hours.

How Sam Moreau and his eclectic team of architects, industrial designers, and writers created the "Wow!" features of Microsoft's new operating system.

Full story at http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/140/windows-into-the-soul.html?page=0%2C0&partner=homepage_newsletter

(hat tip: Heather Leigh)

For those of you who don't know, those sweet validators we use in WebForms are not available in Windows Forms.  Greg Duncan has a post today that shows how to use an ExtenderProvider to create a RegEx validator in the same vein as the web one.  MVP Billy Hollis had a similar article in 2003, and shows how to create several validators.  For the time-pinched, you can find a current version of the sample at http://dotnetmasters.com/samples.htm.