User Manual
3
Windows Live ID: One Online ID to Rule Them All
If you think about it, this is a sneaky way to achieve the original goal of
Windows Live ID. That is, since the world didn’t come to Windows Live ID, Windows
Live ID has instead come to the world. Using that single sign-on, you can simply
access all those wonderful third-party services from Windows Live. All you need to
do is create an account—though you may already have one—and then congure it
to access other services.
Every Windows Phone user should take the time to congure a Windows Live ID. And
this is true even if you have no interest in using any Windows Live services directly. By
creating such an account and conguring it properly, you will be able to turn on your
new phone on day one, sign on with your Windows Live ID, and watch it automatically
populate with all of the information that’s tied to that account. This means e-mail, con-
tacts, and calendars. Photos and news feeds from you and your friends and family, no
matter where they’re found online. And, as you will soon nd out, so much more. This is
the key to a killer Windows Phone experience.
NOTE Yes, you can use Windows Phone without having a Windows Live ID, but
I don’t recommend it. And while this book does document how to congure your
phone with other account types, I am assuming that you have a Windows Live
ID. It’s that important. So please don’t skip the Windows Live ID creation and
conguration steps if you want to get the most out of your Windows Phone.
Creating a New Windows Live ID
If you don’t have a Windows Live ID, you will need to create one. Note, however, that
you may already have such an account. Any e-mail address ending in hotmail.com,
msn.com, or live.com is a Windows Live ID, for example. If you’ve created an Xbox
Live account or a Zune account, that’s a Windows Live ID too. So if you have such an
account, skip ahead to the next section. If not, it’s time to make one.
NOTE It’s possible for any e-mail address to be used as a Windows Live ID, so
if you don’t want to be stuck with one of Microsoft’s domain names, you can also
use your own (including competitor accounts from Gmail, Yahoo!, and elsewhere).
Many educational institutions also use Windows Live services on the back end, so
if you’re a student, it’s possible you have a Live ID already as well.
There are many avenues for reaching Microsoft’s Windows Live ID sign up page,
but the easiest, perhaps, is to just navigate to live.com. When you do so, you’ll see
the screen shown in Figure 1-1.
886595c01.indd 3 9/29/10 7:36:31 AM