The default serialization format for ADO.NET Data Services is now Atom instead of alternative XML-based formats we experimented with in previous releases.  In short, we chose this format because when combined with the Atom Publishing Protocol (APP) specification, this industry standard format can be used for general purpose data exchange. 

I’m not going to get into the details of our usage of Atom in this post (that deserves a post on its own), but we just wanted to drop a quick note for those exploring data services using the newly released CTP in Internet Explorer.  By default IE has a special feed viewing mode which doesn’t lend itself well to viewing Astoria feeds.  To get a pure XML view of the data, you need to uncheck viewing mode .  To do this uncheck the box: Tools -> Internet Options -> Content ->  Feeds (settings) -> Turn on feed viewing

-Mike Flasko

Program Manager, ADO.NET Data Services (“Project Astoria”)