Windows 8 : Configuring Internet Explorer 10 (part 4) - Managing Internet Explorer settings by using Group Policy

2. Managing Internet Explorer settings by using Group Policy

The problems and solutions you’ve seen thus far have all focused on how to make changes at the desktop level. In an enterprise environment, performing work at the desktop level is inefficient because there are often dozens, hundreds, or thousands of computers to manage. For that reason, administrators often turn to the Group Policy feature, which provides centralized control over the entire Active Directory environment.

For Internet Explorer alone, more than 1,500 individual Group Policy settings can be manipulated to manage even the largest Windows environment. Further, with the release of Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Internet Explorer 10, there are dozens of new, changed, and deprecated Group Policy settings that an administrator can use to manage the new features in Internet Explorer 10. This book does not cover every Internet Explorer–focused Group Policy setting. However, it shows you how to accomplish some key tasks by using Group Policy. Figure 10 shows the Group Policy Management Console from Windows Server 2012, displaying nothing but Internet Explorer–focused Group Policy options.

Figure 10. Windows Server 2012 showing hundreds of Group Policy settings for Internet Explorer