I think you have to have a hotmail or msn id in order to use it. Most 
instant messaging services require this I think.

Ray Campbell wrote:

>Hello All:
>
>I have a question about Windows Live Messenger.  I'm working with
>someone who wants to sign up and use it.  We've gotten the Live
>Messenger program installed, however, when we go to where it says "Sign
>up for a new Windows Live ID" it will not let her use her existing
>e-mail address which is a gmail address.  It appears that you can only
>use IDs of the form <something>@live.com or <something>@hotmail.com.  I
>tried typing in my existing e-mail address which is not a live.com or
>hotmail.com address in the edit field for an ID and got an error message
>saying my ID had to consist of letters, numbers, periods, and I think a
>few other characters.  I got this because, of course, I had put an '@'
>sign in.
>
>So my question.  Is there a way to sign up on Windows Live Messenger
>using an existing e-mail address which is not a live.com or hotmail.com
>address?  If so, how does one go about it?
>
>Thanks,
>
>
>
>Ray Campbell, Help Desk Technician
>Adaptive Technology Center
>Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
>1850 W. Roosevelt Road
>Chicago, IL  60608
>312-997-3651 (Voice/Relay) or
>888-825-0080 (voice/Relay)
>[log in to unmask] 
>AIM Screen Name: tclhelp
>
>
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>


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