Mac OS 8.0

Mac OS 8.0 was released on July 26, 1997.

Improvements in Mac OS 8.0 include a multi-threaded Finder, the three-dimensional Platinum appearance theme and a number of performance related improvements to virtual memory, AppleScript execution times and system start-up times. Help was available in the form of an Info Centre (by means of web pages stored on the user's hard drive, with links to the Internet -- this was new with Mac OS 8), as well as Balloon Help and Apple Guide.

Indeed, much of the interface that was to come with now-dead Copland emerged with the release of Mac OS 8.0. Folders were given a three-dimensional look in blue, windows were now tinted in platinum, and the menu bar was now in silver, instead of the original pure white. Buttons appeared embossed (instead of a mere black-and-white switch), and scroll bars appeared in a new, more enriched 3D look as well.