I guess it depends on the package to be installed. Anything that can be done through GPO would be easier to manage but also less risky. Working directly in the registry is never my first choice. And for the GPO editor, there are modules that will be able to launch a process that will manage the GPO. And if you're lucky, there may even be a module to deal directly with GPO. I have to say that my daily work is on Linux servers, and I use Linux exclusively while at home. Windows is only a dumb terminal to me. And I'm far from being an expert in Windows............................. :-(