Backport PR #1752 on branch 0.11.x (Merge 0.11 docs with rcs) (#1753)

Co-authored-by: Philipp A <[email protected]>

docs/release-notes/0.11.0.md

@@ -1,12 +1,49 @@
 (v0.11.0)=
 ### 0.11.0 {small}`2024-11-07`
 
+Release candidates:
+
+- (v0.11.0rc3)=
+  {guilabel}`rc3` 2024-10-14
+- (v0.11.0rc2)=
+  {guilabel}`rc2` 2024-09-24
+- (v0.11.0rc1)=
+  {guilabel}`rc1` 2024-09-04
+
 #### Bug fixes
 
 - Ensure {func}`anndata.concat` of {class}`~anndata.AnnData` object with {class}`scipy.sparse.spmatrix` and {class}`scipy.sparse.sparray` dask arrays uses the correct fill value of 0. {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1719`)
-- Ensure that views of AwkwardArrays have their "view" attributes removed on saving an {class}`~anndata.AnnData` object
-  to disk. {user}`grst` ({pr}`1736`)
+- Ensure that views of AwkwardArrays have their "view" attributes removed on saving an {class}`~anndata.AnnData` object to disk. {user}`grst` ({pr}`1736`)
+
+#### Breaking changes
+
+- {guilabel}`rc3` Drop support for `python` 3.9 {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1712`)
+- {guilabel}`rc2` A new `anndata.io` module contains all `read_*` and `write_*` functions, and all imports of such functions should go through this module. Old ways of importing these functions i.e., `from anndata import read_csv` or `from anndata._io.specs import read_elem` will still work, but are now considered deprecated and give a warning on import with the exception of {func}`anndata.io.read_zarr` and {func}`anndata.io.read_h5ad`, which will remain at the top-level `anndata` without warning. {user}`ilan-gold ({pr}`1682`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Removed deprecated modules `anndata.core` and `anndata.readwrite` {user}`ivirshup` ({pr}`1197`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` No longer export `sparse_dataset` from `anndata.experimental`, instead exporting {func}`anndata.io.sparse_dataset` {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1642`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Move `RWAble` and `InMemoryElem` out of `experimental`, renaming `RWAble` to {type}`~anndata.typing.AxisStorable` and `InMemoryElem` to {type}`~anndata.typing.RWAble` {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1643`)
+
+#### Development Process
+
+- {guilabel}`rc2` Add extra `dask` dependency for installation i.e., `pip install anndata[dask]` {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1677`)
+- {guilabel}`rc2` Remove `shall_` from variable names in `settings` {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1685`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Create new `cupy` installation options for cuda 11 & 12 called `cu11` and `cu12` {user}`Intron7` ({pr}`1596`)
+
+#### Documentation
+
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Correct {attr}`anndata.AnnData.X` type to include {class}`~anndata.abc.CSRDataset` and {class}`~anndata.abc.CSCDataset` as possible types and being deprecation process for non-csr/csc {class}`scipy.sparse.spmatrix` types in {attr}`anndata.AnnData.X` {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1616`)
 
 #### Features
 
 - Add support for ellipsis indexing of the {class}`~anndata.AnnData` object {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1729`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` `scipy.sparse.csr_array` and `scipy.sparse.csc_array` are now supported when constructing `AnnData` objects {user}`ilan-gold` {user}`isaac-virshup` ({pr}`1028`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Allow `axis` parameter of e.g. {func}`anndata.concat` to accept `'obs'` and `'var'` {user}`flying-sheep` ({pr}`1244`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Add `settings` object with methods for altering internally-used options, like checking for uniqueness on `obs`' index {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1270`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Add {attr}`~anndata.settings.remove_unused_categories` option to {attr}`anndata.settings` to override current behavior {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1340`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Add {func}`~anndata.experimental.read_elem_as_dask` function to handle i/o with sparse and dense arrays {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1469`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Add ability to convert strings to categoricals on write in {meth}`~anndata.AnnData.write_h5ad` and {meth}`~anndata.AnnData.write_zarr` via `convert_strings_to_categoricals` parameter {user}` falexwolf` ({pr}`1474`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Add {attr}`~anndata.settings.check_uniqueness` option to {attr}`anndata.settings` to override current behavior {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1507`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Add functionality to write from GPU {class}`dask.array.Array` to disk {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1550`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Read and write support for nullable string arrays ({class}`pandas.arrays.StringArray`). Use pandas’ {doc}`pandas:user_guide/options` `mode.string_storage` to control which storage mode is used when reading `dtype="string"` columns. {user}`flying-sheep` ({pr}`1558`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Export {func}`~anndata.io.write_elem` and {func}`~anndata.io.read_elem` directly from the main package instead of `experimental` {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1598`)
+- {guilabel}`rc1` Allow reading sparse data (via {func}`~anndata.io.read_elem` or {func}`~anndata.io.sparse_dataset`) into either {class}`scipy.sparse.csr_array` or {class}`scipy.sparse.csc_array` via {attr}`anndata.settings.use_sparse_array_on_read` {user}`ilan-gold` ({pr}`1633`)