The Vanilla Perl Project is an experiment to provide binary Perl distributions for the Microsoft Windows platform that include a bundled compiler. Bundling a compiler provides the ability to install XS CPAN modules directly from CPAN, making the Win32 Perl development more akin to Unix perl development.
The Vanilla Perl Project offers two series of binary distributions of Win32 Perl.
The Vanilla Perl series provides a Perl distribution that is as close to the Perl core as possible. If necessary, it may include win32-specific fixes.
Vanilla Perl is experimental and is not intended for production purposes. It is targeted to master-level Win32 Perl developers and those who wish to experiment with building their own custom Win32 Perl distributions. Vanilla Perl releases are numbered only as sequential 'builds' and will not follow any alpha/beta/release plan. This means incremental builds may be less stable than previous builds as new release configurations are tested.
The purpose of the Strawberry Perl series is to provide a more practical Win32 Perl release for experienced Perl developers to experiment and test the installation of various CPAN modules under Win32 conditions, and to provide a useful platform for experienced Perl developers to start doing real work.
In addition to the modules in Vanilla Perl, Strawberry will also include the entire dependency tree for Bundle::CPAN, as well as an additional set of upgraded versions of dual CPAN/core modules that have win32-specific fixes.