- CSINode initialization does not crash kubelet on startup when APIServer is not reachable or kubelet has not the right credentials yet. ([#89589](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/89589), [@jsafrane](https://github.com/jsafrane)) [SIG Storage]

- New implementation of watch cache using btree data structure. Implementation is not enabled yet. ([#126754](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/126754), [@serathius](https://github.com/serathius)) [SIG API Machinery, Auth, Cloud Provider and Etcd]

Storage worked on bringing CSI to feature parity with in-tree functionality, including functionality like resizing, inline volumes, and more. SIG Storage introduces new alpha functionality in CSI that doesn't exist in the Kubernetes Storage subsystem yet, like volume cloning.

Volume cloning enables users to specify another PVC as a "DataSource" when provisioning a new volume. If the underlying storage system supports this functionality and implements the "CLONE_VOLUME" capability in its...

- Fixed a bug that init containers with `Always` restartPolicy may not terminate gracefully if the pod hasn't initialized yet. ([#126331](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/126331), [@gjkim42](https://github.com/gjkim42)) [SIG Node and Testing]

- Runtime handler and Windows npipe protocol are not supported yet in crictl v1.11.x. Those features will be supported in crictl [v1.12.0](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/releases/tag/v1.12.0), together with Kubernetes v1.12.1.

## Major Themes

### SIG API Machinery

- Reverts graceful node shutdown to match 1.21 behavior of setting pods that have not yet successfully completed to "Failed" phase if the GracefulNodeShutdown feature is enabled in kubelet. The GracefulNodeShutdown feature is beta and must be explicitly configured via kubelet config to be enabled in 1.21+. This changes 1.22 and 1.23 behavior...