>What is one required to do as a beta tester?

Test the product and test it hard ... thats if you want to
remain a beta tester for long.

For example ... in previous betas ... it has not been uncommon for
the top testers to log in excess of 100 solid bug reports ...
that is bugs that they alone have found, validated, duplicated and
reported on.

Every aspect of the product needs to be tested and validated and
this can and does take up a lot of time.

In addition, beta's by there very nature have bugs in them and can cause
problems with various parts of your system ... you need to be
prepared to have a seperate machine where you can play without
effecting other "Production" systems.