The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award is given by Microsoft to "technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with the community." The awarded are people who "actively share their ... technical expertise with the different technology communities related directly, or indirectly to Microsoft". The MVP recognition lasts for a year and is awarded for a person's Microsoft related activity, contributions and influence over the previous year. The MVP program grew out of the software developer community. Some of the earliest MVPs were those most active in online peer support communities, such as Usenet and CompuServe. It has since grown to include other types of products, and other avenues of contribution. Steve Ballmer spoke to a group of Microsoft MVPs about Windows XP and Windows Vista. A posting from Tamar Granor on the Universal Thread web site gives this account of the origin of the MVP program.