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The win32.perl.org web site provides references to several Perl distributions for MS Windows.
For a long time I have been using ActivePerl from ActiveState but recently I switched to Strawberry Perl.
IMHO The only advantage that Active Perl still has over Strawberry Perl is the fact that it comes with Perl Tk which means its easy to install Devel::ptkdb the graphical debugger. Other than that, I think Strawberry Perl has all the advantages.
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Strawberry Perl (a Perl packaged for Windows) is recommended as you get many useful modules (especially those that are tricky to install) along with it. To interact with the command line and run Perl commands, you need to run 'cmd'. There are better alternatives available as well.
ActivePerl / PPM cons: There's not always a PPM, or at least not always an up-to-date one. Strawberry Perl / CPAN pros: Your repository is CPAN, not a bunch of binaries maintained by third parties. You have new modules the moment the author releases them, and you're using the build system that the author intended.
ActivePerl: The Leading Perl Solution The Perl programming language is the Swiss Army chainsaw of scripting languages, used by millions of developers for systems administration, networking and other essential applications.
Perl is a programming language suitable for writing simple scripts as well as complex applications — see https://www.perl.org. Strawberry Perl is a perl environment for MS Windows containing all you need to run and develop perl applications. It is designed to be as close as possible to perl environment on UNIX systems.
Strawberry Perl is just getting better and better. One problem I've repeatedly had with ActiveState is that my modules sometimes fail to install because I need an upgrade to a core module, but they won't allow that. Thus, everybody who doesn't use Windows can use my code, but they can't do that with ActiveState's Perl.
ActiveState also has a very dodgy build system which often fails to report exactly why a module failed to build. I got so tired of emailing and asking for this information that I eventually gave up. I want my code to run on Windows, but if ActiveState doesn't provide me with that information and doesn't give me any option for upgrading core modules, I just can't use it. Some of my modules have NO build failures on any operating system -- except those with ActiveState Perl. Support Strawberry Perl and just don't worry about ActiveState.
If ActiveState has fixed their build system and their 'no upgrade to core modules' policy, it's worth revisiting.
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