The rush to install the newest Windows Vista beta is on. But before you take the plunge, here’s five things you’ll want to think about first.

The news on Wednesday that Microsoft had finally posted a public beta for its long-awaited, often-delayed Windows Vista brought the usual rush by multitudes who couldn’t wait.

Enough, apparently, that some users have reported overloaded sites that never begin the download. (As of mid-day Thursday, TechWeb was unable to reach the English-language, 32-bit download file.)

That inability to access Beta 2’s multi-gigabyte download may be a blessing in disguise. Tucked into Microsoft’s website are notes that may be deal-breakers for many.

Here are five. Read ‘em before you download, or pay $US10 to order a DVD from Microsoft.

1.) You’d better have a DVD burner

The hours it’ll take you to download Vista Beta 2 - 9 hours using a 1.5Mbps connection (such as DSL) by Microsoft’s estimate - will be wasted if you don’t have access to a DVD-RW drive. It’s possible, of course, to download the file and burn it to DVD on one PC, then install it on another, although certainly a hassle.

Sans DVD-RW, your only other option is to order the DVD, which costs $US6 in the US with another $US4 for shipping and handling. Microsoft says the disc should arrive in two to four weeks.

2) It goes dead in 2007, so if Microsoft delays Vista again

Like most previews from the developer, Vista Beta 2 has a time limit, after which it - ‘poof!’ - stops working. The deadline: June 1 2007.

Although that may seem like more than enough time - over a year away - it’s unclear what will happen to your PC if, say, Microsoft doesn’t meet its previously-announced January 2007 release date for the consumer editions of the OS.

It’s not as if Microsoft hasn’t delayed Vista before.

3) You’re stuck with Vista

There is no easy way to turn back the clock and return the PC now running Vista Beta 2 to the box’s earlier operating system. You’re stuck, sort of.

“Once you install Windows Vista Beta 2 you cannot roll back to the previous operating system installation - you will either have to acquire and install the final released edition of Windows Vista or reinstall a previous edition of Windows,” says Microsoft.

It then gives some advice all should heed: “Before installing Windows Vista Beta 2 on any computer, please remember to back up all your files.”

One way to avoid a total re-install of, say, Windows XP, would be to back up the PC to an external drive using a disk imaging program such as Symantec’s Norton Ghost before trying Vista. With that done, you could ditch Beta 2 by simply reimaging the PC’s hard disk from the external drive.