Andres Aguiar on How-To-Select an O/R Mapping Tool for .NET (2006)

Object-relational mapping serves several purposes. One of them is to simplify data access by reimplementing the data access APIs built on .NET. Instead of accessing data using DataSets and DataAdapters, mappers create a whole new API.

You can improve DataSets and DataAdapters by decoupling them from the database schema and generating the right code to support paging, joins, and dynamic filtering and ordering. In this way, users of the data access layer do not need to learn a new data access API, reducing the overall cost of adopting these tools. There are several ways to learn how to use DataSets (training courses, books, online articles), but it's not as easy to train people in the object-relational mapping tool of your choice.

This is why, at DeKlarit, we decided to greatly improve the DataAdapters/DataSet approach, making it highly suitable for enterprise-scale application development.