Ruby is written to take advantage of the rich feature set of a Unix environment. Unfortunately, Windows is missing some of the functions, and implements others differently. As a result, some kind of mapping layer is needed to run Ruby (and other Unix-based programs) under windows.
You may come across different versions of the Ruby executable that use different wrapper mapping layers.
The rbdj version is a stand-alone version of the Windows binary of Ruby. It uses the DJ Delorie tools ( http://www.delorie.com).
The rbcw version is a Windows binary of Ruby that requires the cygwin library, available at http://www.cygwin.com or from the Ruby download pages. Cygwin is a both an emulation layer and a set of utilities initially produced by Cygnus Solutions (now part of Redhat). The Cygwin version of Ruby probably has the fullest set of features under Windows, so most programmers will want to use it.
To use the rbcw version, you will need to install the cygwin .dll separately. Once you have installed cygwin on your computer, copy cygwin1.dll (which is found in the bin subdirectory of the cygwin distribution) to your Windows\System32 folder (or somewhere else on your path).
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