YugabyteDB 2.6 is the latest release of the open-source database, which includes significant enhancements to its core features and self-managed DBaaS offering, Yugabyte Platform. The new version introduces point-in-time recovery (PITR), default encryption in transit, and expanded support for major public and private cloud services, including Microsoft Azure, Red Hat OpenShift, and VMware Tanzu. PITR allows admins to restore a database to a specific point in time, while TLS encryption is now enabled by default for both client-to-node and node-to-node traffic. Yugabyte Platform also offers improved high availability features, including primary/multiple-secondaries high availability for instance management. The new version includes several enterprise-grade features, such as multi-instance cloud providers, AWS GP3 volumes, and improved search usability. Additionally, the roadmap for upcoming releases includes notable features like point-in-time recovery, incremental backups, and better support for online schema migrations.