I am just as puzzled as you. I personally use Eclipse, which I find quite user-friendly both for developing php and committing to CVS. As you say it looks a bit intimidating at first, but Tim has provided excellent guidelines to it. However, it is perhaps not so useful if you do not have committing rights to moodle or contrib.
As for Unix-like command line patch commands, you can use them even in the Windows environment. You need to do a google search for GnuWin32 Packages. The programmes you need are diff.exe or diffutils.exe and patch.exe. Be aware however that for a Windows user there is a steep learning curve and it's hard to find help. For me it was like suddenly being thrown back into the prehistoric , pre-Windows past of the DOS command-line. I am truly amazed that still nowadays the "computer people" (at my university, for example) consider the command line the nec plus ultra of computing and thoroughly despise the more user-friendly user interfaces. Well, one reason may be that mastering all those arcane procedures gives them power over the "ordinary" Windows-attached user.
Joseph
and thanks.