SQL 2008 also allows you to disable lock escalation on specific tables. I have found this very useful on small frequently updated tables where locks can escalate causing concurrency issues. In SQL 2005, even with the ROWLOCK hint on delete statements locks can be escalated which can lead to deadlocks. In my testing, an application which I have developed had concurrency issues during small table manipulation due to lock escalation on SQL 2005. In SQL 2008 this problem went away.
It is still important to bear in mind the potential overhead of handling large numbers of row locks, but having the option to stop escalation when you want to is very useful.
