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Group Policy preferences are less strict than Group Policy settings, based on:
Type
Group Policy preferences
Group Policy settings
Enforcement
Not enforced
Has the user interface turned on
Can only be refreshed or applied once
Enforced
Has the user interface turned off
Can be refreshed multiple times
Flexibility
Lets you create preference items for registry settings, files, and folders.
Requires app support
Needs you to create Administrative Templates for new policy settings
Won't let you create policy settings to manage files and folders
Local Group Policy
Not available
Available
Awareness
Supports apps that aren't Group Policy-aware
Requires apps to be Group Policy-aware
Storage
Overwrites the original settings
Removing the preference doesn't restore the original setting
Doesn't overwrite the original settings
Stored in the Policy branches of the registry
Removing the setting restores the original setting
Targeting and filtering
Targeting is specific, with a user interface for each type of targeting item
Supports targeting at the individual preference item level
Filtering is based on Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), and requires writing WMI queries
Supports filtering at the Group Policy Object (GPO) level