The ActiveState implementation is a bit different in its focus than is Strawberry.  (I’m not saying that either one is “better,” but rather that “the designer’s intent” is different.   Particularly when it comes to servicing and packages.)   Maybe the right thing for you to do, at least for now, is simply to revert back to the previous release and stick with it for a while longer.

The way I see it, your only objective is to get useful work done ... not to monkey around with software configurations.   So, if you do find yourself doing just that, back off and try a different strategy.   Is there anything that is really “holding a gun to your head and saying that you must, on pain of being converted to a Java programmer, ;-) use 5.12 now?”