Learn AD in 15 Minutes a Week: Windows 2000 GPO Software Deployment

Welcome to the 11th installment of Learn Active Directory Design and Administration in 15 Minutes a Week, a weekly series aimed
at current IT professionals preparing to write the new Windows Active Directory Design and Administration exams (70-219 and 70-217 respectively), as well as newcomers to the field who are trying to get a solid grasp on this new and emerging directory service from Microsoft. This
installment is going to cover some of the Windows 2000
Server Software Management Tools for handling the deployment
and management of software through Group Policy. This week
is going to focus on Deploying Software and Software
Maintenance.

Jason Zandri’s latest article in the Learn Active Directory Design and Administration in 15 Minutes a Week series covers some of the Windows 2000 Server Software Management Tools with a focus on deploying software and software maintenance.

Deploying Software

There are different approaches to
deploying software and there is no one set standard that is
going to fit all the needs of every organization and
enterprise. There are a few guidelines and default behaviors
that the different methods employ.

The reference chart below shows some of the differences between the different
methods.

You want to
ASSIGN
an application when you want everyone to have the
application on his or her computer. Applications can be
published to both computers and users.

You want to PUBLISH an
application when you want the application to be available to
people. When applications are published, users are able to
decide whether or not to install the published application.
Applications can only be published to users, not to
computers.

The application is available for
users to install either by using Add/Remove Programs in
Control Panel or by attempting to access a file with a file
extension that has been associated with the application.