The document outlines new features introduced in Java 8, including lambda expressions, method references, default interface methods, repeating annotations, and improved type inference. It also discusses enhancements in Java libraries such as Optional, Streams, Date/Time API, Base64 encoding, and parallel arrays, along with new tools like the Nashorn JavaScript engine and class dependency analyzer. Additionally, it briefly mentions proposed features for Java 9, like modular source code and updates to the process API.