- Fixes the bug in PodTopologySpread that only happens with QHint enabled, 

  before updating a cluster where resourceclaims, resourceclaimtemplates, deviceclasses, or resourceslices might have been stored using Kubernetes < 1.32, delete all of those resources before updating and recreate them as needed while running Kubernetes >= 1.32. ([#132000](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/132000), [@pohly](https://github.com/pohly)) [SIG Etcd, Node, Scheduling and Testing]

- Improved how the API server responds to **list** requests where the response format negotiates to Protobuf. List responses in Protobuf are marshalled one element at the time, drastically reducing memory needed to serve large collections. Streaming list responses can be disabled via the `StreamingCollectionEncodingToProtobuf` feature gate. ([#129407](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/129407), [@serathius](https://github.com/serathius)) [SIG API...

* fix issue: vm sku restriction policy does not work in azure disk attach/detach ([#71941](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/71941), [@andyzhangx](https://github.com/andyzhangx))
* Include CRD for BGPConfigurations, needed for calico 2.x to 3.x upgrade. ([#71868](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/71868), [@satyasm](https://github.com/satyasm))

- Added new feature gate called `RuntimeClassInImageCriApi` to address `kubelet` changes needed for KEP 4216.
  Noteable changes:
  1. Populate new `RuntimeHandler` field in CRI's `ImageSpec` struct during image pulls from container runtimes.

    * Fix kubernetes-worker charm failures in LXD

    * Fix stop hook failure on kubernetes-worker charm

    * Fix handling of juju kubernetes-worker.restart-needed state

    * Fix nagios checks in charms

  * Enable GPU mode if GPU hardware detected ([#43467](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/43467), [@tvansteenburgh](https://github.com/tvansteenburgh))

* fix issue: vm sku restriction policy does not work in azure disk attach/detach ([#71941](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/71941), [@andyzhangx](https://github.com/andyzhangx))
* Include CRD for BGPConfigurations, needed for calico 2.x to 3.x upgrade. ([#71868](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/71868), [@satyasm](https://github.com/satyasm))

  with the number of existing entries in the internal cache
  
  - `rest_client_transport_create_calls_total` is a counter
  that increments each time a new transport is created, storing
  the result of the operation needed to generate it: hit, miss
  or uncacheable. ([#117295](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/117295), [@aojea](https://github.com/aojea))

Kubernetes releases are now generating provenance attestation files describing the staging and release phases of the release process and artifacts are verified as they are handed over from one phase to the next.
This final piece completes the work needed to comply with Level 1 of the [SLSA security framework](https://slsa.dev/) (Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts).

### IPv4/IPv6 Dual-stack Networking graduates to GA

- The RuntimeClass scheduler can now simplify steering Linux or Windows pods to appropriate nodes
- All Windows nodes now get the new label `node.kubernetes.io/windows-build` that reflects the Windows major, minor, and build number that are needed to match compatibility between Windows containers and Windows worker nodes.


## Deprecations and Removals