  Using 766 compact objects from a survey of the galactic Plane in the 1612-MHz
OH line, new light is cast on the infrared properties of evolved stars on the
TP-AGB and beyond. The usual mid-infrared selection criteria, based on IRAS
colours, largely fail to distinguish early post-AGB stages. A two-colour
diagram from narrower-band MSX flux densities, with bimodal distributions,
provides a better tool to do the latter. Four mutually consistent selection
criteria for OH-masing red PPNe are given, as well as two for early post-AGB
masers and one for all post--AGB masers, including the earliest ones. All these
criteria miss a group of blue, high-outflow post-AGB sources with 60-mum
excess; these will be discussed in detail in Paper II. The majority of post-AGB
sources show regular double-peaked spectra in the OH 1612-MHz line, with fairly
low outflow velocities, although the fractions of single peaks and irregular
spectra may vary with age and mass. The OH flux density shows a fairly regular
relation with the stellar flux and the envelope optical depth, with the maser
efficiency increasing with IRAS colour R21. The OH flux density is linearly
correlated with the 60-mum flux density.
