More about < and >

Below are two xml codes. The first uses &lt; and &gt; as html code
equivalents in order that the popup window format correctly.

<marker lat="44.18491" lng="-76.71855" html="&lt;font size='2'
face='Arial'&gt;Amherst Island Ferry&lt;br&gt;Millhaven to
Stella&lt;br&gt;3KM (2miles); Year-round" label="Amherst Island Ferry"
/>

Below is xml code from www.admaps.com/

It does not use the &lt; and &gt; and seems to work fine.

<marker lng="-89.25" lat="34.75" iconname="red small">
<infowindow><![CDATA[<div style="width:200px;"><font
style="font-size: 1.5em;">Red Icon, small</font></div>]]></infowindow>
<link><![CDATA[<img src="/images/icon-red-small.png" border=0> Marker
1:<font style="font-size: .8em;">Small Red Icon</font>]]></link>
</marker>

What is it about the latter code that allows for this? Is it the
enclosure of
<![CDATA[ ... ]]

Thanks

Richard