Hi all, I am curious as to what your opinions are in Entity Framework?

I have read some things like the first version of it is super horrible because it doesn't handle many to many relationships (though many ORMs don't and I've never seen the issue with just making a linking table).

Also is LINQ to Entities the same as Entity Framework? I think it is, but it seems like one term is used or the other.

I have used Linq to SQL before, what are the advantages of it compared to that?

In terms of coding preference I like to build everything from the ground up so I can fully understand it/be in control of the code I write. So I have heard that Entity Framework is harder and I know LinqToSQL handles a lot of stuff automatically, but specifically what are the differences?

I appreciate your responses, Thanks =)