Some of the biggest challenges in enterprise IT  come from managing third party software. If you're ever written a batch file to script an Adobe installation and set default options or you're worried about data security from Skype file and screen sharing, check out the <a href="http://customadmx.sourceforge.net/">CustomADMX project</a> on SourceForge.

What is an ADMX file? From <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709647(WS.10).aspx">Technet</a>, ADMX files are a standards-based XML file format for storing registry-based policy settings. If you use Group Policy on newer Windows servers, you're already using them. ADMX files let you create new Group Policy settings that are easy to manage using existing Group Policy tools. This means no more writing scripts just to edit registry settings! ADMX files can be used to manage Vista and newer workstations and Windows Server and newer servers.

With the CustomADMX project, the hard part is already done for you. It comes with a graphical installer and you can choose which software you would like to manage. Here's just some of the configurable settings:<!--more-->
<ul>
	<li>7-Zip</li>
<ul>
	<li>Control default compression and encryption options for archives</li>
	<li>Manage the Windows context menu appearance</li>
</ul>
	<li>Java</li>
<ul>
	<li>Modify the Java update schedule and frequency (or disable entirely)</li>
	<li>Change the user notification about update availability</li>
</ul>
	<li>Skype</li>
<ul>
	<li>Disable new version checking</li>
	<li>Limit TCP/UDP ports and connections</li>
	<li>Disable new version checking</li>
	<li>Disable file sharing, screen sharing, Facebook integration, and more</li>
</ul>
	<li>Adobe Acrobat, Reader, Air, and Updater</li>
<ul>
	<li>Control update behavior and disable if desired</li>
	<li>Enforce requirements for digital signatures</li>
	<li>Disable Javascript execution in PDFs</li>
</ul>
	<li>DoubleGIS Mapping Software</li>
<ul>
	<li>Hide/Show different UI elements</li>
	<li>Manage proxy server settings</li>
	<li>Control product update behavior</li>
</ul>
</ul>
You can try all of these features on a test workstation without making any changes to your domain. Choose "Local Mode" when you run the installer to have the ADMX files placed locally.

CustomADMX is open-source (GPLv2), which means it's available for anyone to use free-of-charge. You can also contribute to the project and share any custom ADMX files you might be using in your environment so that others can benefit.