Sure, filesystems with snapshotting and deduplication capabilities let you use much simpler tools to implement backups. I don't think they're common in consumer-level storage devices, though.
From what I've read persistent volume snapshots has been removed from W8 and replaced with File History. You can still use VSS to make temporary snapshots though (and that's what allows backup apps to process locked files).
The filesystem and API support is still there, and System Restore still uses them. vssadmin doesn't offer to let you create shadows, but you can still make them via PowerShell:
