I've found this:
With the SettingsSerializeAsAttribute, you can specify which serialization mechanism should be used for a given application settings class or property. This attribute is considered a request to the settings provider. It may be ignored or cause an error if the provider or the individual property type does not support the specified serialization scheme. If this attribute is not present, the provider will usually provide a default serialization mechanism, most commonly plain text.
Daniel Schaffer
2009-05-26 19:57:57