It is Component Object Modelling(COM) based.

It is Common Language Runtime(CLR) based.

It works in connected mode to access the data store.

It does require an active connection, works in disconnected mode to access the data store.

It uses the RecordSet object to access and store data from the data sources.

It uses a DataSet object to access and store data from the data sources.

It provides a feature of locking.

It does not provide a feature of locking.

Data is stored in binary form.

Data is stored in XML.

It does not support XML integration.

It supports XML integration.

Using a single connection instance, it is not possible to send multiple transactions.

Using a single connection instance you can send multiple transactions.

We can create only client-side cursors.

Both client-side and server-side cursors can be created.

It supports sequential row access in a RecordSet.

Non-sequential data access is supported in DataSet by using a collection-based hierarchy.

It will make use of SQL JOINs and UNIONs for combining data from multiple tables. It is not possible to fetch records from multiple tables independently.

It will make use of DataRelational objects to combine data from multiple tables without the help of JOINs and UNIONs. Therefore records from multiple tables are maintained independently.