If you're itching to install Windows Vista SP1 but haven't been one of the few thousand beta testers to get an invitation, October 27th could be your lucky day. If you live near Redmond Washington, that is.

Microsoft is holding a Vista SP1 Beta Install Fair. What does that mean? if you've got a PC running Windows Vista RTM and a little free time on your hands, Microsoft will install a beta of SP1 on your system. You'll need a PC with a 1GHz or higher processor, 512MB of RAM, a 4X or 8X AGP video adaptor with 64MB of RAM, 6GB of free hard drive space, and a DVD-ROM drive.

Microsoft is looking for at least 100 PCs with uncommon applications and configurations so they can gather better performance data on Vista SP1. In other words, you'd best back up your data, because there's no guarantee everything is going to work.

There's limited availability, so you should sign up by sending an e-mail to vsp1reg@microsoft.com. Microsoft is offering to install SP1 on 180 desktop PCs and 20 laptops between 9am and 3pm on October 27th.