Apache Druid 25.0 introduces significant updates, including the graduation of the Multi-Stage Query (MSQ) and nested column features to production-ready status, enhancing data ingestion and handling nested data from formats like Avro and Parquet. The release simplifies Druid cluster infrastructure with an experimental feature allowing ingestion tasks to run directly on Kubernetes without middle managers and introduces front-coded string dictionary compression to effectively reduce data footprint with minimal impact on query performance. The start-up process is improved with the new "start-druid" script, which automatically allocates system memory and threads, facilitating easier deployment. Additional enhancements include segment balancing, Kafka lookup support in the web console, and new metrics for better cluster monitoring. Users are encouraged to explore these updates and consider contributing to the Druid community.