Group Policy (GP) was introduced with Windows 2000 Server as a way to move beyond the simple management of Windows Registry settings introduced with Windows NT 4.0 System Policy. Although System Policy is still available for various versions of Windows, including Windows 9x and NT 4.0, Microsoft switched to GP to provide an architecture based on Active Directory (AD) and to give customers the ability to manage Registry and security settings, software installation, script execution, folder redirection, and other Windows features and services.

Group Policy Replaces System Policy

System Policy, the predecessor to GP, allows administrators to manage the configuration of Windows 98, ME, and NT 4.0 by setting the values of Registry keys, but administrators must use a version-specific version of the System Policy editor for each version of Windows. The System Policy editor creates a policy file (with a .pol extension) that the administrator can store either on the local computer (in standalone scenarios) or on the domain controllers (for networked scenarios).

Group Policy was introduced with Windows 2000 Server to move beyond the simple management of Windows Registry settings introduced with Windows NT 4.0 System Policy. While System Policy is still available for various versions of Windows, including Windows 9x and Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft switched to Group Policy to provide an Active Directory (AD)-based architecture and to give customers the ability to manage Registry and security settings, software installation, script execution, folder redirection, and other Windows features and services.

System Policy

System Policy, the predecessor to Group Policy, allows administrators to manage the configuration of Windows 98, Me, and NT 4.0 by setting the values of the Registry keys, but administrators must use a version-specific version of the System Policy editor for each version of Windows. The System Policy editor creates a policy file (.pol file) that the administrator can then store on the local computer (standalone scenarios) or on the domain controllers (for networked scenarios).