Final answer:
The correct answer is option A. an RSOP report. The correct method to determine what policies will be applied to a given machine is through an RSOP report, which helps administrators understand the combined effect of Group Policy objects on the system.
Step-by-step explanation:
RSOP, which stands for Resultant Set of Policy, is a Microsoft management console (MMC) snap-in that provides administrators with a way to determine the combined effect of Group Policy objects (GPOs) applied to a specific user or computer. It simulates the policy settings applied during the actual logon process and helps in diagnosing resultant policy settings and identifying group policy settings that are applied to the machines and users within the domain. This tool can be very useful when troubleshooting Group Policy issues or when you need to ensure the correct policies are being applied.
Option B, C, and D are not tools used for determining what policies will be specifically applied to a machine. A test domain is used for testing and staging; a control panel is a feature of Windows for system settings; and gpupdate is a command to force a Group Policy update rather than to view the applied policies.
An rsop report, or Resultant Set of Policy report, is a tool used in Windows systems to determine the group policies that will be applied to a given machine. It provides a summary of all the applied policies and their settings.
This report can be generated by running the rsop.msc command in the Windows Run dialog box. It allows administrators to see which policies are being applied and troubleshoot any issues with policy application.
For example, if an administrator wants to know why a specific policy is not being applied to a computer, they can generate an rsop report to check if the policy has been properly configured and is being applied to the machine.