This is the code for the performance tests I did for my March Visual Studio Magazine Ask Kathleen column. 

Be sure to run in Release mode

To understand what's going on, you'll have to look at the functions that run
behind each button. 

Performance testing is always a shaky science, but the bottom line is clear, 
LINQ to XML is fast, with some approaches faster than others.

Kathleen Dollard
Jan. 28, 2008