Packaging a simple perl script for use by "average Joes" running Windows

Question

I have a really trivial perl script that I would like to distribute to a number of clients who are not very computer savvy. They are all running Windows XP or above. Furthermore, it is safe to assume that they do not have Perl installed on their systems.

I'm looking for a Perl module or other solution that would allow me to do the following:

• The application should auto start upon login and minimize to the system tray until the user expands it by clicking on the system tray icon.

• When expanded from the system tray the application should provide a simple Windows GUI to the script. The GUI is super trivial: a status line showing the status of the application and a "Do stuff" button that will trigger the processing of the applications business logic.

• Windows-style ideally wizard based installation. I'd like to be able to able to distribute an [application-name]-install.exe that would guide the user through the installation. Perl plus dependencies should be installed behind the scene.

Are there any Perl GUI toolkits and/or installation tools that would help me achieve these things?

Answer 1

• Win32::SysTray
• Win32::GUI
• PAR::Packer provided executable wrapped into NSIS

There are many more ways to do it. I think these modules will get you started most easily.