Quest Software's Group Policy Extensions for Desktops (QGPED) 2.0 takes the Gold Award for SearchWin2000.com's Group Policy Management Products of the Year. Earning consistently high marks across the board by our judges, Group Policy Extensions allows you to force Group Policy Refresh on network events, so you can instantly reconfigure client computers when they move into or connect to your network.

Group Policy Extensions adds on to native Group Policy Objects (GPOs) through nodes to both the computer and the user configuration. Using a template-based approach, you can manage desktops through the extended settings applied and enforced on each client. Templates are created by configuring a sample computer and capturing its settings. Because it is so tightly integrated with Group Policy, training time is minimal.

With Group Policy Extensions, you can merge group memberships and define users and their roles on each computer by dynamically populating local group membership based on comma-separated (CSV) files. It allows you to remotely manage Outlook and user profiles, security group membership, configuration settings, network connections and scheduled tasks.

There is also a useful services configuration feature that allows for centralized service account changes and disables unnecessary services. That includes hardware restrictions, which may be used to prohibit end users from using mass storage devices, like USB sticks.

Group Policy Extensions supports all major Microsoft Office application configurations, including settings for Power Options (which provides significant energy savings), Windows Explorer, hardware restrictions and services. It also offers support for RSoP (Resultant Set of Policies).

Pricing: Quest Software Inc.'s North American pricing for Quest Group Policy Extensions for Desktops 2.0 starts at $6.50 per managed desktop.

SearchWin2000.com editors