TNEF is (mostly) ancient history (Score 1)

First off, Outlook 2000 by default does NOT send TNEF attachments.

obligatory link on format of TNEF http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?URL= /library/psdk/mapi/_mapi1book_transport_ neutral_encapsulation_format_tnef_.htm

TNEF was created in the old days (1991) of MS Mail 3.0 to send OLE attachments over the MS Mail system. It was adapted later to also send around compressed RTF message text (the message always also included the ASCII text as well).

It was to be used for all non-MS systems X.400, SNADS, PROFS, MHS, cc-Mail, oh yeah and SMTP.

Was it a way to subvert the Internet? Doubtful, MS employees knew of the Internet (from University), but they believed the pundits who said the X.400/X.500 systems would one day rule. {this was 1991 after all :-})

Now MS wants TNEF to go away, Exchange 2000 does everything in HTML and MIME.

Complaining about TNEF is very 1995, that was when the Win95 client DID send TNEF (winmail.dat) by default.