When you first visit www.Office365.com, you might think the site is asking for your Windows Live ID. However, if you try to sign in using that tried-and-true user name and password, you’ll get a rather unfriendly message: You are now required to sign in at Live.com or You are now required to sign in at MSN. What does that mean, and how does it get you into Office 365?
The answer to the mystery is that your Microsoft Online Services ID and your Windows Live ID are two different things. To keep Office 365 secure (and paid for), site security is enforced by admitting only licensed users into the site.
This means that the administrator of your Office 365 site needs to generate your Microsoft Online Services ID and password, and that’s done through the Microsoft Online Office Subscription website. If you don’t have a Microsoft Online Services ID, contact your administrator to get your ID and password so that you can get into your group’s Office 365 site.
Who is an administrator?
Administrator is an important-sounding word, and what it really means is this: you get to make decisions about your Office 365 account and get things set up the way you want them.
A person with administrator privileges in Office 365 is able to create new accounts, set up users, configure the services they’ll use (for example, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Lync, or Microsoft SharePoint), set permissions, and get updates to the software. If you have administrator privileges.