`sync_partial_proxy_rules_duration_seconds` (in addition to the existing\n`sync_proxy_rules_duration_seconds`),
  giving better information about the duration of each \nsync type, rather than
  only giving a weighted average of the two sync types together. ([#117787](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/117787), [@danwinship](https://github.com/danwinship))

  - [Changelog since v1.26.0](#changelog-since-v1260)
  - [Known Issues](#known-issues)
    - [The PreEnqueue extension point doesn't work for Pods going to activeQ through backoffQ](#the-preenqueue-extension-point-doesnt-work-for-pods-going-to-activeq-through-backoffq)
  - [Urgent Upgrade Notes](#urgent-upgrade-notes)
    - [(No, really, you MUST read this before you upgrade)](#no-really-you-must-read-this-before-you-upgrade)

* Fixes a performance issue ([#51899](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/51899)) identified in large-scale clusters when deleting thousands of pods simultaneously across hundreds of nodes, by actively removing containers of deleted pods, rather than waiting for periodic garbage collection and batching resulting pod API deletion requests. ([#53233](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/53233), [@dashpole](https://github.com/dashpole))

- New repository created for [Windows Operational Readiness](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/windows-operational-readiness)

### Moved container registry service from k8s.gcr.io to registry.k8s.io

- Prevented watch cache starvation by moving its watch to separate RPC. Added a `SeparateCacheWatchRPC` feature flag to disable this behavior. ([#123532](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/123532), [@serathius](https://github.com/serathius))

- Fixes an issue calculating total CPU usage reported for Windows nodes ([#122999](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/122999), [@marosset](https://github.com/marosset)) [SIG Node and Windows]
- Prevent watch cache starvation by moving its watch to separate RPC and add a SeparateCacheWatchRPC feature flag to disable this behavior ([#123693](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/123693), [@mengqiy](https://github.com/mengqiy)) [SIG API Machinery]

- Moving MixedProtocolLBService from beta to GA ([#112895](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/112895), [@janosi](https://github.com/janosi)) [SIG Apps, Network and Testing]