difference between ADO and ADO.NET

• ADO works with connected data. This means that when you access data, such as viewing and updating data, it is real-time, with a connection being used all the time.

• The ADO.NET object is a lightweight object. The ADO Recordset was a huge object in ADO.
• ADO.NET breaks the functionality of the ADO object to multiple classes, thereby allowing a focused approach to developing code.
• The ADO.NET DataReader is equivalent to the "firehose" cursor.
• The DataSet is a disconnected cache with tracking and control binding functionality.
• The DataAdapter provides the ability to completely customize how the central data store is updated with the changes to a DataSet.
• ADO allows you to create client-side cursors only, whereas ADO.NET gives you the choice of either using client-side or server-side cursors.
• ADO allows you to persist records in XML format, ADO.NET allows you to manipulate your data using XML as the primary means.