Err, HFS+ is pretty nifty. For video editors, it was a must have upgrade. For the rest of us, it was interesting and we upgraded when it was necessary.
I suppose that one of the reasons that Mac OS 8+ is under utilised is that there aren't many resources for maximisation. Gamba spent an eternity getting System 7.1 to run at the max on 68030s. With the exception of, say, the Turbo 601 hackers, few people got under its skin.
Apple produced several USB support kits for Mac OS 8.x (which may be hard to find) that support USB 1.0 and 1.1 devices. Try finding information about what actually works and you'll be disappointed.
I suppose that one of the reasons that Mac OS 8+ is under utilised is that there aren't many resources for maximisation. Gamba spent an eternity getting System 7.1 to run at the max on 68030s. With the exception of, say, the Turbo 601 hackers, few people got under its skin.
Apple produced several USB support kits for Mac OS 8.x (which may be hard to find) that support USB 1.0 and 1.1 devices. Try finding information about what actually works and you'll be disappointed.