I was recently working on building a test environment for myself while I was studying for the MCITP-Database Administration exams.  SQL Server 2008 supports creating a slipstream install for service packs and cumulative updates so you can install to the latest SP or cumulative update in one step.

The problem with a slipstream install is that you need to set it up first, so for a single install I'm not sure how much time you actually save, but for multiple installs or for creating media it is great.  I followed the instructions Peter Saddow's blog on msdn.  I'm not going to duplicate those instructions here, as they are easy to follow and worked. 

Once I finished setting up the slipstreamed install location, I downloaded ISO Recorder and used it to create an ISO image of the install directory.  ISO Recorder adds "Create ISO image file" to the right-click menu.  I did the ISO image as I was installing SQL Server on some virtual machines and didn't want to have to share the install location and I also wanted to be able to easily burn it to DVD.  The only issue I had was that Virtual PC would not successfully mount the created ISO image.  Fortunately I had already downloaded Virtual Clove Drive, which would allow me to mount the ISO image.  I'm not sure why Virtual PC would not allow me to mount it.  Once I got the ISO image mounted I was able to install SQL Server 2008 + SP1 without issue on a couple of VM's.  It was definitely worth the time to create the slipstream.

Anyone else have any experiences to share or issues they encountered?