Well, you're using /\.+/, not /\.*/  :)

my $s = "abcdefg";

my @c = split /\.*/, $s;
print '/\.*/: ', join("-", @c), "\n";

my @d = split //, $s;
print '//:    ', join("-", @d), "\n";

__END__
/\.*/: a-b-c-d-e-f-g
//:    a-b-c-d-e-f-g
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