Yes, there are issues with \ vs / in Windows. I think that there are things like '\' is needed on a path to an .exe.
In Perl code, using "/" in a Perl function almost always or at least I don't know of a case where it does not. But YES, there are cases where Windows itself is pretty finicky about this. Yes, I would quote a path, like "/file", because there are even more lexical pitfalls like "divided" by file!
Without spending hours thinking about it, I cannot cover every single case. My method is simplistic, I write something that "feels right" and if it is wrong, I try again and then verify that the new formulation is "right". It just seems like when I think I've learned everything about it, I get bit with a new wrinkle when dealing with this \ and / Windows command line stuff! I think that is just the nature of the beast.
Anyway, I post my code and learn things. Thanks!