Avoid CURSORS?

CURSORS or WHILE loops with temp-tables & counter, what do you prefer, personally and perofrmance wise?

This has been discussed in lots of forums, threads, posts and blogs previously. Many people and experts claim to use the either one and most of them are inclined to WHILE loops, and suggest to avoid CURSORS without any proof and logic.

Links: http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2008/05/21/sql-server-2005-twelve-tips-for-optimizing-sql-server-2005-query-performance/
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/skumaar_mca/CursorsAlternative09012009011823AM/CursorsAlternative.aspx
http://www.sqlbook.com/SQL/Avoiding-using-SQL-Cursors-20.aspx