HELP...Not sure where to post this

[DroidDefDoes]

Ok so I would LOVE to root my droid and start running custom ROMS but my question is how do I go about doing so? Im following instructions from here Guide to Rooting Android 2.1 on a Motorola Droid - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog and Ive just finished with Step 1 and need to know how to do a back up so I dont loose my apps?...Im eyeing JRummys Froyo Kangrade V1.0 for my Droid so I guess my other question would be is do I need to intall the leaked 2.2 to run this ROM as well? How safe is ROOTING?
Thanks for reading,Rachel