diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 9ba4cca..1bc5f9f 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -47,9 +47,6 @@
 *.dll           binary
 *.pdb           binary
 
-# Compare .pbxproj files as binary and always merge as union
-*.pbxproj       binary -merge=union
-
 # Custom for Visual Studio
 *.sln           merge=union
 *.csproj        merge=union
diff --git a/NetworkHelper/NetworkHelperConfiguration.xml b/NetworkHelper/NetworkHelperConfiguration.xml
index 104ac9a..ebd901d 100755
Binary files a/NetworkHelper/NetworkHelperConfiguration.xml and b/NetworkHelper/NetworkHelperConfiguration.xml differ
diff --git a/NetworkHelper/Utilities/ConfigurationManager.cs b/NetworkHelper/Utilities/ConfigurationManager.cs
index f539391..edfb37c 100755
--- a/NetworkHelper/Utilities/ConfigurationManager.cs
+++ b/NetworkHelper/Utilities/ConfigurationManager.cs
@@ -41,14 +41,14 @@ public static void LoadConfiguration()
             }
             else
             {
-                Configuration = Serializer.XmlDeserialize<Configuration>(File.ReadAllText(ConfigurationFilePath.Value, Encoding.BigEndianUnicode));
+                Configuration = Serializer.XmlDeserialize<Configuration>(File.ReadAllText(ConfigurationFilePath.Value, Encoding.UTF8));
                 InitializeAndValidateConfigurationAndCreateExampleIfNeeded();
             }
         }
 
         public static void SaveConfiguration()
         {
-            File.WriteAllText(ConfigurationFilePath.Value, Serializer.XmlSerialize(Configuration), Encoding.BigEndianUnicode);
+            File.WriteAllText(ConfigurationFilePath.Value, Serializer.XmlSerialize(Configuration), Encoding.UTF8);
         }
 
         private static void InitializeAndValidateConfigurationAndCreateExampleIfNeeded()
diff --git a/NetworkHelper/Utilities/Serializer.cs b/NetworkHelper/Utilities/Serializer.cs
index b8c2576..42d277f 100755
--- a/NetworkHelper/Utilities/Serializer.cs
+++ b/NetworkHelper/Utilities/Serializer.cs
@@ -1,252 +1,59 @@
 using System;
-using System.Globalization;
 using System.IO;
-using System.Linq;
-using System.Xml;
+using System.Text;
 using System.Xml.Serialization;
 
 namespace NetworkHelper.Utilities
 {
-    /// <summary>
-    /// Helper class to serialize and deserialize in various ways
-    /// </summary>
     public static class Serializer
     {
-        #region XmlSerialization
-
-        #region Non-generic methods
-
-        #region Serialization methods
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="type">Type of object</param>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of type</param>
-        /// <param name="includeXmlDeclaration">Specifies whether to include the XML declaration in the serialization</param>
-        /// <param name="knownTypes">Types that may be present in the object graph</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize(Type type, object serializableObject, bool includeXmlDeclaration, params Type[] knownTypes)
+        public static string XmlSerialize<T>(T serializableObject)
         {
-            if (type == null)
-            {
-                throw new ArgumentNullException("type");
-            }
+            return XmlSerialize(typeof(T), serializableObject);
+        }
 
-            if (serializableObject == null)
-            {
-                throw new ArgumentNullException("serializableObject");
-            }
+        public static T XmlDeserialize<T>(string serializedObject)
+        {
+            return (T)XmlDeserialize(typeof(T), serializedObject);
+        }
 
+        private static string XmlSerialize(Type type, object serializableObject)
+        {
             string result;
 
-            using (StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture))
+            using (StringWriter stringWriter = new Utf8StringWriter())
             {
-                XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = GetXmlSerializer(type, knownTypes);
+                XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(type);
                 xmlSerializer.Serialize(stringWriter, serializableObject);
 
-                if (includeXmlDeclaration)
-                {
-                    result = stringWriter.ToString();
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    XmlDocument xmlDocument = new XmlDocument();
-                    xmlDocument.LoadXml(stringWriter.ToString());
-                    result = xmlDocument.FirstChild.NextSibling.OuterXml;
-                }
+                result = stringWriter.ToString();
             }
 
             return result;
         }
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="type">Type of object</param>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of type</param>
-        /// <param name="includeXmlDeclaration">Specifies whether to include the XML declaration in the serialization</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize(Type type, object serializableObject, bool includeXmlDeclaration)
-        {
-            return XmlSerialize(type, serializableObject, includeXmlDeclaration, null);
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer, including the XML declaration
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="type">Type of object</param>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of type</param>
-        /// <param name="knownTypes">Types that may be present in the object graph</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize(Type type, object serializableObject, params Type[] knownTypes)
-        {
-            return XmlSerialize(type, serializableObject, true, knownTypes);
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer, including the XML declaration
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="type">Type of object</param>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of type</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize(Type type, object serializableObject)
-        {
-            return XmlSerialize(type, serializableObject, true, null);
-        }
-
-        #endregion
-
-        #region Deserialization methods
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Deserialize from string to object using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="type">Type of serialized object</param>
-        /// <param name="serializedObject">Instance of serialized object</param>
-        /// <param name="knownTypes">Types that may be present in the object graph</param>
-        /// <returns>An instance of object type</returns>
-        public static object XmlDeserialize(Type type, string serializedObject, params Type[] knownTypes)
+        private static object XmlDeserialize(Type type, string serializedObject)
         {
-            if (type == null)
-            {
-                throw new ArgumentNullException("type");
-            }
-
-            if (serializedObject == null)
-            {
-                throw new ArgumentNullException("serializedObject");
-            }
-
             object result;
 
             using (StringReader stringReader = new StringReader(serializedObject))
             {
-                XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = GetXmlSerializer(type, knownTypes);
+                XmlSerializer xmlSerializer = new XmlSerializer(type);
                 result = xmlSerializer.Deserialize(stringReader);
             }
 
             return result;
         }
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Deserialize from string to object using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="type">Type of serialized object</param>
-        /// <param name="serializedObject">Instance of serialized object</param>
-        /// <returns>An instance of object type</returns>
-        public static object XmlDeserialize(Type type, string serializedObject)
+        private class Utf8StringWriter : StringWriter
         {
-            return XmlDeserialize(type, serializedObject, null);
-        }
-
-        #endregion
-
-        #endregion
-
-        #region Generic methods
-
-        #region Serialization methods
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of object</typeparam>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of T</param>
-        /// <param name="includeXmlDeclaration">Specifies whether to include the XML declaration in the serialization</param>
-        /// <param name="knownTypes">Types that may be present in the object graph</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize<T>(T serializableObject, bool includeXmlDeclaration, params Type[] knownTypes)
-        {
-            return XmlSerialize(typeof(T), serializableObject, includeXmlDeclaration, knownTypes);
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer, including the XML declaration
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of object</typeparam>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of T</param>
-        /// <param name="knownTypes">Types that may be present in the object graph</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize<T>(T serializableObject, params Type[] knownTypes)
-        {
-            return XmlSerialize(typeof(T), serializableObject, true, knownTypes);
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of object</typeparam>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of T</param>
-        /// <param name="includeXmlDeclaration">Specifies whether to include the XML declaration in the serialization</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize<T>(T serializableObject, bool includeXmlDeclaration)
-        {
-            return XmlSerialize(typeof(T), serializableObject, includeXmlDeclaration, null);
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Serialize from object to string using XmlSerializer, including the XML declaration
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of object</typeparam>
-        /// <param name="serializableObject">Instance of T</param>
-        /// <returns>A string with the serialized object</returns>
-        public static string XmlSerialize<T>(T serializableObject)
-        {
-            return XmlSerialize(typeof(T), serializableObject, true, null);
-        }
-
-        #endregion
-
-        #region Deserialization methods
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Deserialize from string to object using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of serialized object</typeparam>
-        /// <param name="serializedObject">Instance of serialized object</param>
-        /// <param name="knownTypes">Types that may be present in the object graph</param>
-        /// <returns>An instance of object T</returns>
-        public static T XmlDeserialize<T>(string serializedObject, params Type[] knownTypes)
-        {
-            return (T)XmlDeserialize(typeof(T), serializedObject, knownTypes);
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Deserialize from string to object using XmlSerializer
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">Type of serialized object</typeparam>
-        /// <param name="serializedObject">Instance of serialized object</param>
-        /// <returns>An instance of object T</returns>
-        public static T XmlDeserialize<T>(string serializedObject)
-        {
-            return (T)XmlDeserialize(typeof(T), serializedObject, null);
-        }
-
-        #endregion
-
-        #endregion
-
-        #endregion
-
-        #region Private members
-
-        private static XmlSerializer GetXmlSerializer(Type type, Type[] knownTypes)
-        {
-            XmlSerializer result;
-
-            if (knownTypes != null && knownTypes.Any())
+            public override Encoding Encoding
             {
-                result = new XmlSerializer(type, knownTypes);
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                result = new XmlSerializer(type);
+                get
+                {
+                    return Encoding.UTF8;
+                }
             }
-
-            return result;
         }
-
-        #endregion
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}