I was thinking about preordering NV from steam, but since there is no information I could find about the steam preload I'm not sure anymore. So is there any info whatsoever about the subject. Will there even be one, and if there is when will it be opened?

This is kinda important even though I'm not in too much of a hurry. I wouldn't want to wait for 2 days after the release so I can get my hands on it. My problem being the connection that university is providing me, even though it's fast it has fixed usage limit of 5 gb up/download per day.

Not all Steam sites have announced early download. At least I did not see it, but I am not getting it from Steam. So, I may not be able to see the download schedule.

However, those that do have it (I have heard UK and Australia from the boards) the game will not activate or be playable until Midnight on the release day, well, morning of the release day.

In your case, since there is a pretty good chance the game is going to be larger than 5GB. Talk to your Network Gods and ask them if the counters reset at a certain time each day, like Midnight. if they do, then plan the download so it starts before the reset so it will finish after. Otherwise, the Steam Download manager should restart the download for you when it can. The Network folks could probably give you a strategy to get the download with the limitations that are in place.

The system requirements state it needs about 10GB, so I would figure the download size should be around that, since Steam just takes the normal folder structure and puts it onto your HDD.

I am fairly certain the Steam preload starts just the day before. But I could be wrong I don't think I have any sources for that, its just a guess

That is the installed size, a Dual Layer DVD holds 7 to 8.5 GB (depending on who you ask and what program you use) so the install archives should be 5 to 8 GB. These are compressed, so 10GB sounds about right for the install.

Man, I remember Betrayal at Krondor that came on just a few 1.44MB Floppies.....

Usually you can download the game before release and wait till the steam servers unlock it .

there have been few occasion where the steam servers didn't unlock the game right on time . just few though .

If the download size is an issue, you might consider buying the retail disk to avoid the large download. After installing and registering, your game will be identical to the Steam-bought version, and you'll have the same benefits as if you had bought it on Steam--you won't need the disk in to play, you'll be able to download the game from Steam in the future, etc. Plus, you'll have a hard-copy of the manual and the ability to go back to the pre-patch version of the game if a future patch messes up any mods for you.