[[release-highlights-7.6.0]]
== 7.6.0 release highlights
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<titleabbrev>7.6.0</titleabbrev>
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//NOTE: The notable-highlights tagged regions are re-used in the
//Installation and Upgrade Guide

// tag::notable-highlights[]
[float]
==== New histogram field type

A new {ref}/histogram.html[histogram field type] has been added. The new `histogram` field accepts
pre-aggregated histograms which can later be used directly in the
{ref}/search-aggregations-metrics-percentile-aggregation.html[percentiles] and
{ref}/search-aggregations-metrics-percentile-rank-aggregation.html[percentile_ranks] aggregations.
This allows users to pre-aggregate histogram data locally and only send the final
data structure, saving storage and network bandwidth while retaining the ability to
aggregate it like any other data.

// end::notable-highlights[]

// tag::notable-highlights[]
[float]
==== Optimized sorting on long field types

Sorting on a {ref}/number.html[`long`] field now internally rewrites into a Lucene `DistanceFeatureQuery`.
This lets {es} skip non-competitive hits, which often improves query speed.
In benchmarking tests, this sped up sorts on `long` fields by 10x.

// end::notable-highlights[]