sub open_default_browser { 
  my $url = shift; 
  my $platform = $^O; 
  my $cmd; 
  if ($platform eq 'MSWin32') { $cmd = "start $url";             } # Win95..Win7 
  if (defined $cmd) { 
    system($cmd); 
  } else { 
    die "Can't locate default browser"; 
  } 
} 
 
open_default_browser("http://www.gmail.com/");