AppleID questions

[moveright]

So If I click on system prefs/users & groups, under my account, my appleID is listed as my email address which is <myemail>@hotmail.com.

Fair enough. So I guess the means my AppleID is just that. However, when I go to system prefs/icloud, my account is listed as <myself>@me.com.

Now I'm confused. I understand that the the me.com is an entirely separate email account but, I don't even know how I got it. Should I be using THAT as my appleID?

 

[GGJstudios]

This should help: Frequently asked questions about Apple ID

 

[moveright]

Ok, thanks for the link. What I noticed is that it says to use your PRIMARY email as your appleID and yet, my <name>@me.com is my primary email but it won't let me use that as an appleID. what gives?