I've been browsing the web for ways to open Outlook MSG files without having Outlook. One source (https://www.lifewire.com/msg-file-4143363) suggested that SeaMonkey "should be able to view" them.
I already have FF, Thunderbird, and Lighting installed, so I was careful to avoid using any SeaMonkey features that might interfere with their operation (especially TB). I used the SM Mail and Newsgroups window but canceled out of setting up any email accounts. I used File | Open | Saved Message and saw that MSG was listed as one of the file types, so I opened an MSG file.
I also started TB and opened the same MSG file there for comparison. Finally, I opened the MSG in Notepad for further comparison.
I did this for five saved messages.
Notes:
- SM and TB are able to interpret the MSG file much more clearly than Notepad.
- Sometimes both SM and TB display a header showing the from/to/date/subject or some parts of a header. This appears to depend somehow on the way Outlook saved the message.
- The SM display is noticeably cleaner, mainly by recognizing a broader character set than TB.
- Neither SM nor TB handles images.
- Neither SM nor TB interprets the HTML in the message. Depending on the layout of the message, they either display the HTML tags or they consider the HTML body to be an attachment that they cannot display.
Thanks!