What kind of application are you trying to test? Web based or regular binary application (i.e. Word or Excel)? If you are testing a web application, you can write Perl scripts (using LWP) to GET/POST pages and do things like check for minimum page size or required text. It is possible to script IE with Perl or VBScript to automate some testing. If you are testing binary application, you'll need something to send events (i.e. key presses/mouse clicks) to the application. If your company can afford it, it might be better to consider purchasing an automated testing tool (WinRunner from Mercury Interactive or SilkTest from Segue) and use that instead of Perl. I'm stuck in a situation where I need to do testing, but the company I work for can't/won't purchase the tools I need to effectively test the application. I'm using Perl to do what I can, but I'd be more effective if I had the right tool for the job.