Option names used to be all lower case but since version 2.04 they are CaseInsensitive and can have embedded_underscores.
As larsen pointed out, you should only see that message if you have XML::Simple's strict mode enabled. If you're getting it with the code as you reported it's a bug - email me the failing code and I'll fix it.
XMLin() can accept a file handle, either some sort of IO::Handle object or a globref as in XMLin(\*DATA).