The release of InfluxDB 1.2 brings significant improvements in reducing lock contention in the write path, resulting in a 50% gain on total write throughput on larger hardware. This release also introduces support for subqueries, allowing users to execute queries like the sum of derivatives, which is useful for analyzing network bandwidth across machines. Additionally, InfluxDB Enterprise now provides built-in incremental backup, while Kapacitor 1.2 adds new features such as improved windowing and alert handling capabilities, including enhanced alert condition handling and decoupling of alert handlers from alert conditions. The TICK stack has made significant progress in reducing lock contention and improving the overall performance of its components.