Microsoft has added a powerful new Group Policy Object (GPO) filtering option, called Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filtering, to Windows Server 2003 Active Directory (AD). You can use WMI filtering to associate a WMI query with a GPO so that the query runs for each user and computer to which the GPO applies. A WMI filter can check for any piece of WMI-based information that the client machine has permission to access on the target machine, including computer hardware and configuration, user profile, and environment settings. This new filter gives you a great way to target GPOs to certain types of clients. WMI filters contain WMI Query Language (WQL)based queries, which the OS evaluates dynamically at computer startup or user logon. Depending on the outcome of these queries, the OS applies the GPO settings or prevents them from being applied.
You can use WMI filters for many purposes, such as detecting clients coming in over RAS or determining whether clients are running a specific service pack or hotfix. However, WMI filters have some limitations. You can't use joins within the WQL query, so you can use a query to determine the property values only of WMI objects from the same class. For example, one query can determine the OS version (a property of the Win32_OperatingSystem class) or the amount of free disk space (a property of the Win32_LogicalDisk class) but not both. . . .
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