Introduction to Desktop Management
Introduction to Desktop Management |
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You use Software Installation and Maintenance to manage the installation, configuration, repair, and removal of software, including applications, operating system service packs, or software upgrades. Software Installation and Maintenance is designed to facilitate policy-based management of software through the entire software life cycle.
Software Installation and Maintenance provides robust software installation and automatic repair of software to groups of users and computers. By using Software Installation and Maintenance, you can define Group Policy settings that specify which applications that a user can use, regardless of which computer the user logs on to, and you can set how software files update and synchronize on a per-computer or per-user basis. You can assign software to a user or computer, or you can publish applications to a user.
Assigned Applications Assigned applications appear installed on the user's computer; that is, the user sees shortcuts for the applications on that user's desktop or Start menu. However, the software is advertised only on the user's computer, which means that the necessary registry entries are made, and shortcuts are placed on the desktop or the Start menu. The software actually is installed the first time that a user selects the software. You use this method to deploy software that is resilient and available no matter what the user does, because if the user removes the software, it is re-advertised, which means that it is installed again if the user selects it again.
Published Applications Published applications do not appear installed on the user's computer; that is, there is no evidence of the application on the desktop. Published applications are installed by using Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. You use this method for managing software that is not absolutely necessary for a user to perform a job.
When you deploy applications by either assigning or publishing them, you can update them from the server. Then when the user logs on to the client computer, any new applications or updates are installed. For more information about Software Installation and Maintenance features of IntelliMirror, see "Software Installation and Maintenance" in this book.