What would you say if I told you that you can stop writing data access code in .Net? Aren’t you tired of writing the same thing over and over again, opening connection, querying the database, figuring out what to return, getting back untype data that you need to start putting on the form? Do you really see some value in writing yet another UPDATE statement?? The Active Record framework allows you to fully utilize the power of the database, but without the back breaking work that it used to take. Active Record uses .Net objects to relieve you from the repeating task of persistence. Those objects are schema aware and can persist and load themselves without you needing to write a single line of SQL. Building business application using Active Record is a pleasure, the database stuff just happens, and you are free to implement the business functionality.
I use subsonic for my data needs. Uses the active record pattern as well. http://www.subsonicproject.com/