Categorizing Applications

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

You can organize assigned and published applications in logical categories to make it easier for users to locate the applications that they need in Add or Remove Programs. Use the software installation extension of Group Policy to create and modify categories of software that you want to appear in Add or Remove Programs. If you have a lot of software to manage, make sure that users can easily locate the applications that they need to install by creating categories that define your organizational structure, job functions, and type of software.

Note

  • Windows Server 2003 does not provide predefined software categories. You must define any categories that you want.

When you create software categories, do the following:

Reflect your organizational structure   For example, when users in a department use a common set of applications, you can create a category named "Finance," which includes accounting applications such as Excel and Microsoft® Access.

Reflect job functions   For example, you can create a category named "Project Managers," which includes applications such as Project and Excel.

Classify applications by the type of software   For example, a category named "Presentation Tools" might include graphics programs that your organization supports, such as Microsoft® Publisher and PowerPoint.

You can also define broad categories, such as line-of-business tools or site-licensed applications.

The categories that you establish are per domain, not per GPO. You need to define them only once for the whole domain. Only users to whom you have assigned or published software can see or install the categories containing that software. To avoid creating duplicate categories, allow only one administrator to define categories for the entire organization.

Creating Categories Example

A software administrator at an organization created the Finance category for users in the Finance department. Only the users in Finance can view and install applications in this category because they are members of the GPO for which those applications are published. Correspondingly, the users in the Finance OU cannot view or install applications from the Administration, Sales, or Shipping categories because they are not members of the GPO for which those applications are published.