Windows Server - Group policy preferences vs. group policy settings

Group policy preferences vs. group policy settings

Preferences and policy settings are different

Preferences are similar to policies in that they apply configurations to the user or computer. However, there are several differences in the way that you can configure and apply them. One of these differences is that preferences are not enforced. However, you can configure preferences to reapply automatically. Another difference is that preferences can use item-level targeting. Item-level targeting enables you to target individual preferences within a GPO to specific users or computers.

Feature	Group Policy Setting	Group Policy Preference
Deletion	Settings removed	By default, preferences remain even after the GPO is removed
Enforcement	Strictly enforced by writing the settings to an area of the registry that standard users cannot modify	Are written to normal location in the registry that the application or operating system features uses to store the setting
Local Machine	GPOs are available	Not available
Management	GPMC	GPMC
Refresh	Refresh policy settings at a regular interval	By default, uses the same settings as Group Policy. Can be applied only once at startup or during sign in, and can be refreshed at intervals.
Targeting	Can be targeted to specific users and computers	Can be targeted to specific users and computers, item-level targeting available
User Interface	Typically disables the user interface for settings that Group Policy is managing	Does not cause the application or operating system feature to disable the user interface for settings

Registry editing. While a Group Policy setting effectively disables the user interface for a given setting, if the user has the ability to edit the registry, the user can alter the setting.