JRE 8 brought significant improvements and new features to the Java platform, some of which include:

1. Lambda Expressions: This feature allows developers to write more concise and expressive code by providing a way to represent anonymous functions.

2. Stream API: Introduced a new Stream API that enables functional-style operations on collections, making it easier to perform operations like filtering, mapping, and reducing data.

3. Date and Time API: JRE 8 introduced a new Date and Time API (java.time) to address the shortcomings of the old Date and Calendar classes, making it easier to work with dates and times.

4. Nashorn JavaScript Engine: Replaced the older Rhino JavaScript engine with Nashorn, providing improved performance and compatibility with ECMAScript 5.1.

5. Compact Profiles: Introduced compact profiles, which are subsets of the Java SE platform, designed to reduce the footprint of Java applications for embedded and resource-constrained devices.

6. PermGen Removal: The permanent generation (PermGen) was replaced with the Metaspace memory area, reducing the likelihood of out-of-memory errors related to class metadata.

7. JavaFX Update: JavaFX, the UI toolkit for Java applications, was bundled with JRE 8, providing a more modern approach to building graphical user interfaces.