The newly released v1.0.0 Perl driver for MongoDB is a next-generation driver that aims to deliver similar underlying behaviors through similar APIs, while still striving to be idiomatic for its language. The driver has improved consistency in APIs and error handling, better encapsulation and abstraction, improved server compatibility and feature support, more portability and reduced dependencies, and enhanced BSON support. Key changes include lazy connections, failover, authentication based on configuration options, read preferences and write concerns represented as objects, and optimized BSON encoding and decoding. The driver also introduces deprecations for the old API and encourages users to transition to the new one as soon as possible. The team is already working on enhancements for the v1.2.0 release, including support for MongoDB 3.2 features, a revised GridFS API, and additional performance improvements.