PIC18F4550 interfacing with GSM Module

Hey,

Im completely new to this project and any help would be much appreciated.

I want to know which GSM module to use with PIC18F4550.Will SIM900 be okay since I want to send data from the microcontroller to the GSM module which will send it by SMS?
I also want to know whether to buy the SIM900 development board for this simple task or just buy the module and implement it by self on PCB?
Thirdly,will MAX232 be required to bring the PIC and the SIM900 to the same level?

Thanks in advance

Have a look here, it is for the 900's predecessor the 300, interface is the same.

https://www.olimex.com/dev/images/PIC/PIC-GSM-sch.gif

Wilksey