Why don't scripting languages output Unicode to the Windows console?

Question

The Windows console has been Unicode aware for at least a decade and perhaps as far back as Windows NT. However for some reason the major cross-platform scripting languages

Answer 1

Michael Kaplan has series of blog posts about the cmd console and Unicode that may be informative (while not really answering your question):

• Conventional wisdom is retarded, aka What the @#%&* is _O_U16TEXT?

• Anyone who says the console can't do Unicode isn't as smart as they think they are

• A confluence of circumstances leaves a stone unturned...

PS: Thanks @Jeff for finding the archive.org links.