Elasticsearch 2.4.0, based on Lucene 5.5.2, has been released, introducing key enhancements such as a significant increase in indexing throughput due to a change in the locking strategy and addressing the previously problematic use of dots in field names. While the 2.0 update had prohibited dots in field names due to potential conflicts, Elasticsearch 5.0 aims to reintroduce this feature with improved internal mapping that better supports such structures. Users of version 1.x can now upgrade to 2.4.0 by disabling the restriction on dots, allowing for smoother transition to 5.0, although care must be taken to avoid field conflicts that could hinder future upgrades. Additionally, Elasticsearch offers solutions such as reindexing in 2.x or using the reindex-from-remote feature to facilitate direct upgrades from 1.x to 5.0, underscoring the importance of reindexing to ensure compatibility with the latest version. The release is available for deployment on Elastic Cloud, and users are encouraged to provide feedback via social media or GitHub.