In answer to the first question, you could use cmd's start utility...

use strict;
use Tk;
my $mw = MainWindow->new();
$mw->Button(
    -text    => 'Start Word',
    -command => sub { system 'start WINWORD.EXE' },
)->pack;
MainLoop();

[download]

In reply to Re: Run another program without blocking or exiting (Perl/Tk). by polypompholyx
in thread Run another program without blocking or exiting (Perl/Tk). by jdtoronto

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