I want to have it already open when I .display()

You obviously did not run the code that I posted. That is exactly what it does.

Tell you what: copy and paste this this to command window and run it - there is a subtle difference between the code that you posted and the code that I posted - obviously you missed it.

oOutlook = CREATEOBJECT([Outlook.Application] )
oNS = oOutlook.GetNamespace([MAPI] )
oInBox = oNS.GetDefaultFolder( 6 )
oMsg = oInbox.Items.GetFirst() 
=oMsg.Display()

You should see the first message from your Outlook Inbox. At least I did when I tested this on my machine with Outlook 2003.