[oak perl] Help with Perl on Windows

[Jon Seidel, CMC]

Couple of questions regarding Perl on Windows (I know, I know... :)

I've been using ActiveState for some time and it's OK. However, since they
were purchased, I am wondering about their commitment to the product.

So - Question #1: does anyone know of any other ports to Windows and how do
they compare to ActiveState? I'd like to find a port where I can just use
the CPAN module to install modules (see Question #3 below).

Question #2: I've been using the free distribution (I'm on perl 5.8), but
I'm wondering if anyone knows if the support from ActiveState improves if
you purchase the professional tools (such as Komodo and the Perl Dev Kit)?
I'd be willing to buy it for better support and fixes to my problems. (The
Visual Perl doesn't interest me in the least).

Question #3: I can't get the ActiveState PPM to install modules
successfully. I see the modules are on the ActiveState website (e.g.,
Test::More, Class::DBI), but neither search nor install 'see' them. I've
updated the package libraries to use the latest identified on the
ActiveState site, but that doesn't help.

Any suggestions?

Thanks very much!

...jon