Microsoft has bought DesktopStandard, a developer of group policy-based enterprise desktop management products, in a move designed to help customers leverage the value of policy-based management and their investments in Active Directory.

But, while the acquisition includes the DesktopStandard intellectual property, facilities, contracts and customer base, it does not cover the PolicyMaker Application Security business.

Those software products will now be available from BeyondTrust, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of DesktopStandard and which focuses on enterprise security products that eliminate the need for security administrators to place trust in computers or users.

John Moyer, DesktopStandard's CEO and co-founder, will become BeyondTrust CEO, while Eric Voskuil, DesktopStandard's CTO and co-founder, will join Microsoft's Windows Enterprise Management division as a software architect.

If you want to know more about the deal, Microsoft has posted a set of questions and answers about the acquisition on its Web site.