Difference between "try to do" and "try and do"

"Try and" has largely been relegated to colloquial use, and "try to" is generally considered the correct form. They are basically synonymous. "Try and" is not really more rude, in my opinion. According to alt.usage.english, "try and" is probably older than "try to," and, when used, implies success or failure of whatever action is being attempted.

As far as speech goes though, they're the same thing. If you're writing, "try and" is generally discouraged.

"Try and...", while accepted in everyday usage, always sounds wrong to me, as if the speaker is commanding you to do two things: try something unspecified, and then do this other thing.

I believe "try and do" is more of an oral expression, but has the same meaning as "try to do".
In writing, I would always use "try to do".

"Try and do" is the form of "try to do" in my native dialect (centered in Pittsburgh, maybe), and probably wouldn't sound strange to any American or Canadian. A related construction is "needs done" instead of "needs to be done", which is more rare outside that dialect.