To LEARN perl, you can use any machine or none at all. To USE perl, including all of the builtin functions and take advantage of ALL functionality, yes, you'll need a UN*X or a derivative thereof. Considering that your question has little if anything to do with Perl and the fact that you don't provide enough information, it's impossible to help you further. While I certainly don't want to dismay you from using your "UNIX", perhaps this would be a good time to ask for the help of someone that can sit and tackle the problems at the computer.