Overview of Preferences
Applies To: Windows Server 2008
Group Policy extends its functionality in Windows Server 2008 by introducing Group Policy preferences. Preferences provide more than twenty Group Policy extensions that expand the range of configurable preference settings within a Group Policy object. Group Policy allows you to manage drive mappings, registry settings, local users and groups, services, files, and folders without the need to learn a scripting language.
Preferences allow you to manage all of these additional settings using the familiar Group Policy Management Console. Within most preference items, the user interface mimics the relevant end-user interface for configuring these settings, making configuration more intuitive.
Within each Group Policy object, you can create multiple preference items with each preference extension. Targeting options provide you with more precise control over how Windows applies preference settings. Using item-level targeting, you can configure each GPO to be appropriate to more users and computers.
The Group Policy Management Console allows you to configure preferences when you edit any domain-based Group Policy object. The Preferences node appears under ComputerConfiguration and User Configuration.