viewing old imessages (for free, on a PC) I'm writing something to a friend that requires extensive knowlege of our past iMessage convos; and, since I haven't a 2.3 GB memory myself, and it would take hours to scroll all the way up, I'd like to be able to view the whole thing as a text file or any equivalent such that I can scroll to the start easily. Most solutions for this I've seen on the web involve using a Mac, and I don't have one. My iMessages are on a 4th-generation iPad. I have a PC running Windows 10 and two running Xubuntu. Can anyone help me out? I'm kind of desperate.
I would get PhoneView and connect the device to a Mac (even if you have to borrow one or go to a library) and then save the message database to a more friendly format.

I sadly cannot offer any PC options, but I'm sure someone else here will edit one in to this answer in place of my ignorance or offer their own software recommendation.

Phone View is my go-to tool for this. You could even ship your iPod to a consultant that was willing to do the work for you if you absolutely have no other options.