Yes, you may use CPAN.pm even on ActivePerl. In this case, installation should work without a hitch since you're installing a pure Perl module.

If you need to install modules with XS or other components that need a c compiler, you'll need a c compiler :-)

If you do that a lot, it might be simpler for you to install Cygwin, which comes with gcc and the rest of the GNU c toolchain.