in reply to win32 browser launching weirdness

This code is Adapted (only very slightly) from Chapter 19 of Learning Perl on Win32 Systems by O'Reilly
use Win32::OLE; Win32::OLE::CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application.1", $ie) || die + "CreateObject: $!"; $ie->{Visible} = 1; $ie->Navigate("file://c|/websites/site1/page.htm");
This will open Internet Explorer using OLE and open the file "c:\websites\site1\page.htm"

I love the Perl CD BookShelf! It has this book and other O'Reilly greats.