tolerate the NoSchedule taint if the taint is added to a Node.  There is an open PR ([#48189](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/48189)) to resolve this issue, but as this issue also exists in 1.6, and as we do not wish to risk release stability by merging it directly prior to a release without sufficient testing, we have decided to defer merging the PR until the next point release for each minor version ([#48190](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/48190)).

* Protobuf...

- kube-proxy metrics are now marked as with the ALPHA stability level. ([#81626](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/81626), [@logicalhan](https://github.com/logicalhan))

- Change `pod_preemption_victims` metric from Gauge to Histogram. ([#83603](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/83603), [@Tabrizian](https://github.com/Tabrizian))
- Following metrics from kubelet are now marked as with the ALPHA stability level:

- Kube-apiserver: Fixed a `1.27`+ regression in watch stability by serving watch requests without a `resourceVersion` from the watch cache by default, as in <`1.27` (disabling the change in PR 115096 by default). This mitigates the impact of an etcd watch bug (https://github.com/etcd-io/etcd/pull/17555). If the 1.27 change in PR 115096 to serve these requests from underlying storage is still desired despite the impact on watch stability, it can be re-enabled with a `WatchFromStorageWithoutResourceVersion`...

For the 1.8 release, SIG API Machinery focused on stability and on ecosystem enablement. Features include the ability to break large LIST calls into smaller chunks, improved support for API server customization with either custom API servers or Custom Resource Definitions, and client side event spam filtering.

AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE LIBRARY AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU
FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE
LIBRARY (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING
RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A
FAILURE OF THE LIBRARY TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF

    assertThat(localCacheTwo.ticker).isEqualTo(localCacheOne.ticker);

    // serialize the reconstituted version to be sure we haven't lost the ability to reserialize
    LocalLoadingCache<Object, Object> three = SerializableTester.reserialize(two);
    LocalCache<Object, Object> localCacheThree = three.localCache;

    assertThat(localCacheTwo.ticker).isEqualTo(localCacheOne.ticker);

    // serialize the reconstituted version to be sure we haven't lost the ability to reserialize
    LocalLoadingCache<Object, Object> three = SerializableTester.reserialize(two);
    LocalCache<Object, Object> localCacheThree = three.localCache;

     * empty at any point. (The sum ensures accuracy up through at least 1<<31 per-segment
     * modifications before recheck.)  Method containsValue() uses similar constructions for
     * stability checks.
     */
    long sum = 0L;
    Segment<K, V, E, S>[] segments = this.segments;
    for (int i = 0; i < segments.length; ++i) {
      if (segments[i].count != 0) {
        return false;
      }

* **[beta]** Node Problem Detector is beta (v0.3.0) now. New
  features added into node-problem-detector:v0.3.0:
  - Add support for journald.
  - The ability to monitor any system daemon logs. Previously only kernel
    logs were supported.
  - The ability to be deployed and run as a native daemon.
* **[alpha]** Critical Pods: When feature gate "ExperimentalCriticalPodAnnotation" is