Configuring GPO Templates

Microsoft has completely reworked the Administrative Template format for Windows Server 2008, replacing the previous ADM format with a new XML-based ADMX format. This format provides several new advantages, including the following:

• You can create a central ADMX store to hold these files; this store is accessible to anyone with the privilege of editing GPOs.

• Because the ADMX files are stored in this location, they are no longer duplicated in individual GPOs as they were with the old ADM format, thereby reducing the size of the SYSVOL folder.

• The ADMX files support multiple languages in the descriptive text associated with a GPO.

• The ADMX files are backward compatible with the older ADM files, so organizations with a large number of ADM files do not need to convert them to ADMX.