What is this new thing called “Group Policy Preferences” and what does it mean to Internet Explorer?

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Hi everyone!

 

Axel Rivera here with some details in the areas of Group Policy that is effecting Internet Explorer.

In October 2006, Microsoft acquired DesktopStandard Corporation, a developer of Group Policy–based enterprise desktop management software. PolicyMaker Standard Edition and PolicyMaker Share Manager were among the products that Microsoft acquired with DesktopStandard.

With improvements and necessary changes, Microsoft has incorporated most of the functionality of PolicyMaker Standard Edition and PolicyMaker Share Manager into Group Policy preferences. Group Policy preferences can be managed using Windows Server 2008 or Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1). The preference extensions (formerly PolicyMaker extensions) are available when editing Group Policy objects (GPOs) in the Group Policy Management Editor window of the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). However, preference extensions are not available in Local Group Policy.

 

Please note: This new Policy feature is not the same as the IE Maintenance Preference Mode policy feature.  This can be very confusing for administrators already familiar with IE group policies since a similar naming convention was used.

 

The links below contain information about the new policy preference feature:

 

Well, that’s all for now.  We’ll be sure and bring you any issue that come our way around this new addition to Group Policy.

 

Regards,

The IE Support Team