Windows Server 2003 Reduces Fear of Group Policy

Group Policy (GP), also introduced in Windows 2000, is a feature for centrally maintaining standard configurations. Active Directory (AD) is a prerequisite for implementing GP; in turn, GP is a prerequisite for managing user and computer configuration and settings, and for IntelliMirror.

Like AD, GP was not always deployed by organizations with Windows 2000. Even if an organization deployed AD, they often found that deploying GP was extremely daunting, and they were not confident that they could use policies safely and effectively. This was further complicated by the fact that Windows 2000 Server had virtually no GP implementation or management tools. Now that Windows Server 2003 has removed the barriers to deploying AD, and provides tools for deploying and managing policies, companies looking to reduce the cost of maintaining large numbers of PCs should reevaluate GP. However, although Windows Server 2003 addresses the implementation and management issues surrounding GP, organizations should realize that few applications use GP for their configuration and management, making GP primarily a solution for Windows configuration, rather than a total PC management solution.