CPAN Client is a throw back from the 60's (and yes, I was there in the 60's!).

Really? I did not remember Perl and CPAN existed so early. and also not in the 70's. And not even the late 80's as far as CPAN is concerned. ;-)

Back to more serious stuff, I am using Perl mostly on Unix and Linux platforms, but, for various reasons, I have also installed both ActiveState and Strawberry on Windows boxes, including the laptop on which I am just writing right now, I really think Strawberry is not only superior (in terms of modules and otherwise), but is more and more so with time. Just my 2 cents.