HFS+ on HFS only Systems (for old timers)

[dpaanlka]

Out of curiosity, why is it that there was never some sort of extension (whether by Apple or some third party) to enable Mac OS 8.0 and below to at least be able to see HFS+ disks? I mean, if the Mac OS could be extended to be able to work with ISO, various PC formats, PhotoDisc, etc... what was the big problem with HFS+?

I'm sure when 8.1 came out, the whole world didn't upgrade at once...

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[MisterMe]

In the MacTracker utility, the only new feature listed for MacOS 8.1 was the support for HFS+.