- Implemented opportunistic batching (KEP-5598) to optimize scheduling for pods with identical scheduling requirements. ([#135231](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/135231), [@bwsalmon](https://github.com/bwsalmon)) [SIG Node, Scheduling, Storage and Testing]

- User can now use component config to configure NodeLabel plugin for the scheduler framework. ([#84297](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/84297), [@liu-cong](https://github.com/liu-cong))
- Optimize inter-pod affinity preferredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution type, up to 4x in some cases. ([#84264](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/84264), [@ahg-g](https://github.com/ahg-g))

* Fixes discovery information for scale subresources in the apps API group ([#54683](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/54683), [@liggitt](https://github.com/liggitt))
* Optimize Repeated registration of AlgorithmProvider when ApplyFeatureGates ([#54047](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/54047), [@kuramal](https://github.com/kuramal))

    * Disable the metadata agent for monitored resource construction in logging.
    * Disable timestamp adjustment in logs to optimize performance.
    * Reduce logging agent buffer chunk limit to 512k to optimize performance.

    * Disable the metadata agent for monitored resource construction in logging.
    * Disable timestamp adjustment in logs to optimize performance.
    * Reduce logging agent buffer chunk limit to 512k to optimize performance.

* Update FitError as a message component into the PodConditionUpdater. ([#39491](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/39491), [@jayunit100](https://github.com/jayunit100))
* Fix comment and optimize code ([#38084](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/38084), [@tanshanshan](https://github.com/tanshanshan))

    * Disable the metadata agent for monitored resource construction in logging.
    * Disable timestamp adjustment in logs to optimize performance.
    * Reduce logging agent buffer chunk limit to 512k to optimize performance.

- Add a service annotation `service.beta.kubernetes.io/azure-pip-name` to specify the public IP name for Azure load balancer. ([#81213](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/81213), [@nilo19](https://github.com/nilo19))
- Optimize EC2 DescribeInstances API calls in aws cloud provider library by querying instance ID instead of EC2 filters when possible ([#78140](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/78140), [@zhan849](https://github.com/zhan849))

* kubelet's --containerized flag will no longer be supported and will be removed in a future release ([#74267](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/74267), [@dims](https://github.com/dims))
* Optimize scheduler cache snapshot algorithm to improve scheduling throughput. ([#74041](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/74041), [@bsalamat](https://github.com/bsalamat))

- Kubeadm: fix the bug that 'kubeadm upgrade' hangs in single node cluster ([#88434](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/88434), [@SataQiu](https://github.com/SataQiu)) [SIG Cluster Lifecycle]
- Optimize kubectl version help info ([#88313](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/88313), [@zhouya0](https://github.com/zhouya0)) [SIG CLI]