Are you saying that Linq2SQL is already old stuff, or did I miss the point?It's being Foxed in preference for the EF. E.g. already there's no mention of SQL2008's newer datatypes. See articles like this discussing "new features" but also pointing out what's not there:
http://www.thinqlinq.com/default/LINQ-to-SQL-enhancements-for-2010.aspxSo, did I waste my money when I just ordered Murach's ADO.NET 3.5 with C# 2008 book?Understanding ADO.NET is never wasted IMHO but the main advantage of pure ADO would be that it's not easy to Fox it. If you're worried about that, you might look at nHibernate but it won't match the papers, presentations, blogs etc you can expect from MVPs and incentivized others about a MS release. The upcoming POCO is lightweight, not backend-centric, is very accessible wrt change tracking and databinding. And if you get in early, you might be recognized as an expert yourself. ;-)
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
