DefaultKeyBinding.dict

The ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict file lets you define your own key bindings in Mac OS X. It can be in one of two formats: old-style NeXT format (example) or modern-style XML plist format (example).

Rebinding ⌘+⌫

I wanted to rebind command-backspace (⌘+⌫) to deleteWordBackward:, and I got some help over in this AskDifferent thread. It was suggested that I use this as my DefaultKeyBinding.dict file:

/* my keybindings */
{
"@\U007F" = "deleteWordBackward:"; /* delete backwards one word */
}  

This advice worked (thanks, guys!), but I already have a working DefaultKeybinding.dict in the XML format, so I wanted to try to get it working that way. I first added just this text near the bottom of my existing file:

<key>@\U007F</key>
<string>deleteWordBackward:</string>

And I also tried creating a brand-new XML-formatted file with just the ⌘+⌫ entry:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>@\U007F</key>
    <string>deleteWordBackward:</string>
</dict>
</plist>

But neither files worked. The apparent situation, then, is that you can rebind ⌘+⌫ only in the old-style NeXT format, and not in the XML plist format. My questions are:

1. Is this accurate, or should the syntax change somehow when I'm switching to XML format?
2. Will I regret moving the rest of my DefaultKeyBinding.dict file over to the old syntax? It wouldn't be much work to do so – it's only one or two dozen entries – but I'm not sure if the old style is deprecated or ill-advised for some other reason.

Edit: Original DefaultKeyBinding.dict

Someone requested information on my original file in the comments, so I figure I might as well include the whole thing here.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key></key>
    <string>complete:</string>
    <key>^ </key>
    <string>setMark:</string>
    <key>^a</key>
    <string>moveToBeginningOfLine:</string>
    <key>^e</key>
    <string>moveToEndOfLine:</string>
    <key>^j</key>
    <string>setMark:</string>
    <key>^v</key>
    <string>pageDown:</string>
    <key>^w</key>
    <string>deleteToMark:</string>
    <key>^x</key>
    <dict>
        <key>^m</key>
        <string>selectToMark:</string>
        <key>^x</key>
        <string>swapWithMark:</string>
    </dict>
    <key>~</key>
    <string>deleteWordBackward:</string>
    <key>~&lt;</key>
    <string>moveToBeginningOfDocument:</string>
    <key>~&gt;</key>
    <string>moveToEndOfDocument:</string>
    <key>~^h</key>
    <string>deleteWordBackward:</string>
    <key>~b</key>
    <string>moveWordBackward:</string>
    <key>~d</key>
    <string>deleteWordForward:</string>
    <key>~f</key>
    <string>moveWordForward:</string>
    <key>~n</key>
    <string>scrollLineDown:</string>
    <key>~p</key>
    <string>scrollLineUp:</string>
    <key>~v</key>
    <string>pageUp:</string>
    <key>~</key>
    <string>deleteWordBackward:</string>
</dict>
</plist>