Perl is powerful. So is VB, which is neither here nor there: any significantly useful programming language will give you quite enough rope to accidentally or deliberately hang yourself. Perl probably makes auto-hanging a tad more difficult than does C (or C++); some of the OO languages (Smalltalk, Eiffel) and functional languages (Haskell) probably make it more difficult still. A robust O/S -- and Windows is more robust than some people give it credit for being -- makes it more difficult for a language to hang random people in the neighborhood. Where Windows fails badly in the robustness department is that most users are logged on with administrator privileges; Windows (even XP) seems culturally wedded to the idea of being a single-user O/S. Non-administrative accounts are frequently unable to install software (any software), fonts, burn CD's, etc, which means that non-administrative accounts are too restricted to do much more than run Office and IE. The solution? Give them administrative privileges. Brilliant. It doesn't matter if the walls are reinforced concrete or papier maché when the doors are left open. This is where *ix descendants are clearly superior: Windows seems largely rooted in its past as an isolated, single user system; the *ix descendants evolved from a multi-user system.