Windows Server 2008 (R2) blog by Kurt Roggen [BE]

Group Policy Preferences

Group Policy Settings

Enforcement

·         Preferences are not enforced

·         User interface is not disabled

·         Can be refreshed or applied only once

·         Settings are enforced

·         User interface is disabled

·         Settings are refreshed

Flexibility

·         Easily create preference items for registry settings, files, and so on

·         Import individual registry settings or entire registry branches from a local or a remote computer

·         Adding policy settings requires application support and creating administrative templates

·         Cannot create policy settings to manage files, folders, and so on

Local Policy

·         Not available in local Group Policy

·         Available in local Group Policy

Awareness

·         Supports non-Group Policy-aware applications

·         Requires Group Policy-aware applications

Storage

·         Original settings are overwritten

·         Removing the preference item does not restore the original setting

·          Original settings are not changed

·         Stored in Polices registry branches

·         Removing the policy setting restores the original settings

Targeting and Filtering

·         Targeting is granular, with a user interface for each type of targeting item

·         Supports targeting at the individual preference item level

·         Filtering is based on Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and requires writing WMI queries

·         Supports (security) filtering at a GPO level

User Interface

·         Provides a familiar, easy-to-use interface for configuring most settings

·         Provides an alternative user interface for most policy settings