<p>A <a href="http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8&amp;sourceid=navclient&amp;gfns=1&amp;q=windows+cron" rel="noreferrer">Google search</a> turned up software that performs the same functions as cron, but nothing built into Windows.</p>

<p>I'm running Windows XP Professional, but advice for any version of Windows would be potentially helpful to someone.</p>

<p>Is there also a way to invoke this feature (which based on answers is called the Task Scheduler) programatically or via the command line?</p>

For the original question, asking about Windows XP (and Windows 7):
Windows Task Scheduler
For command-line usage, you can schedule with the
AT command
.
For newer Microsoft OS versions, Windows Server 2012 / Windows 8, look at the
schtasks
command line utility.
If using PowerShell, the
Scheduled Tasks Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell
are made for scripting.