Then now's the time to brush up on Windows Vista and Windows 7, the upcoming cloud-computing platform Windows Azure and virtualization software such as Hyper-V, according to a Microsoft executive in charge of the . And plan on sharing that knowledge as widely as possible on developer and user forums run by Microsoft and others.

Microsoft is heavily recruiting MVPs for these areas, Toby Richards, general manager for community and online support, said this week. It is also actively looking for MVP candidates in important overseas Microsoft markets such as China, Russia, India and Brazil.

Microsoft, which holds its annual MVP Summit March 1-4 in Seattle, added several hundred MVPs this year and now has 4,200 worldwide. "We would like to keep expanding our pool of influencers," said Richards, adding that despite , the MVP program has seen "no de-investment."

with 38 initial MVPs.

MVPs are chosen primarily for the amount and quality of free technical advice they dispense in Web forums and blogs. Contrary to some , there is no set formula that determines whether someone is MVP material, said Richards.