Edit more stack references in get-started

Author: lcawl

get-started/howto-use-the-docs.md

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # How to use the documentation
 
-Our documentation is organized to guide you through your journey with Elastic, from learning the basics to deploying and managing complex solutions. 
+Our documentation is organized to guide you through your journey with Elastic, from learning the basics to deploying and managing complex solutions.
 
 Here is a detailed breakdown of the documentation structure:
 
-* [**Elastic fundamentals**](/get-started/index.md): Understand the basics of Elasticsearch and the Elastic Stack, deployment options, and key use cases.  
+* [**Elastic fundamentals**](/get-started/index.md): Understand the basics about the deployment options, platform, and solutions, and features of the documentation.  
 * [**Solutions and use cases**](/solutions/index.md): Learn use cases, evaluate, and implement Elastic's solutions: Observability, Search, and Security.  
 * [**Manage data**](/manage-data/index.md): Learn about data store primitives, ingestion and enrichment, managing the data lifecycle, and migrating data.  
 * [**Explore and analyze**](/explore-analyze/index.md): Get value from data through querying, visualization, machine learning, and alerting.  
@@ -13,14 +13,18 @@ Here is a detailed breakdown of the documentation structure:
 * [**Troubleshoot**](/troubleshoot/index.md): Identify and resolve problems.  
 * [**Extend and contribute**](/extend/index.md): How to contribute to or integrate with Elastic, from open source to plugins to integrations.  
 * [**Release notes**](/release-notes/index.md): Contains release notes and changelogs for each new release.  
-* [**Reference**](/reference/index.md): Reference material for core tasks and manuals for optional products. 
+* [**Reference**](/reference/index.md): Reference material for core tasks and manuals for optional products.
 
 ## Applicability badges
 
-Because Elastic products can be deployed in different ways (like on Elastic Cloud or in your own data center) and have different versions, not all documentation applies to every user. To help you quickly see if a topic is relevant to your situation, we use **applicability badges**.
+Because Elastic products can be deployed in different ways (like on {{ecloud}} or in your own data center) and have different versions, not all documentation applies to every user. To help you quickly see if a topic is relevant to your situation, we use **applicability badges**.
 
 These badges appear at the top of a page or section and tell you which products, deployment models, and versions the content applies to. They also indicate the maturity level of a feature, such as **beta**, **technical preview**, or **generally available (GA)**. This system ensures that you can identify content specific to your environment and version.
 
+:::{tip}
+An {{stack}} badge indicates that a page applies to [{{search-platform}}](/get-started/search-ai-platform.md) components across all deployment options except {{serverless-full}}. If a page applies to all deployment options, it will have both {{serverless-short}} and Stack badges.
+:::
+
 ## Page options
 
 On each documentation page, you'll find several links that allow you to interact with the content:
@@ -47,18 +51,21 @@ We clearly mark content added or changed in a specific version using availabilit
 
 This means the feature is:
 
-* Available on Elastic Stack  
-* Generally Available (GA)  
+* Generally Available (GA) in the [{{search-platform}}](/get-started/search-ai-platform.md) across all deployment options except {{serverless-full}}
 * Introduced in version 9.1.0
 
+:::{tip}
+If a page applies to all deployment options including {{serverless-full}}, it will have both {{serverless-short}} and Stack badges.
+:::
+
 ### Serverless example
 
 {applies_to}`serverless: ga` {applies_to}`security: beta`
 
 This means the feature is:
 
-* Generally Available for Elasticsearch Serverless projects  
-* Beta for Elastic Security Serverless projects
+* Generally Available for {{es-serverless}} projects  
+* Beta for {{sec-serverless}} projects
 
 ### Elastic Cloud Enterprise example
 
@@ -155,7 +162,7 @@ Find the documentation for your Elastic product versions or releases.
 | [Elastic APM AWS Lambda extension](https://www.elastic.co/docs/release-notes/apm/aws-lambda/release-notes) | 1.0.0 and later |
 | [Elastic APM Attacher for Kubernetes](https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/apm/k8s-attacher) | 1.1.3 |
 
-## Glossary 
+## Glossary
 
 To help you understand the terminology used throughout our documentation, we provide a [glossary of common Elastic terms](/reference/glossary/index.md). This is a great resource for new users or anyone looking to clarify the meaning of a specific term.
 

get-started/search-ai-platform.md

@@ -11,17 +11,20 @@ products:
 # {{search-platform}}
 
 Elastic provides a fusion of search technology and artifical intelligence in the [{{search-platform}}](https://www.elastic.co/platform).
-It is the foundation for Elastic's two out-of-the-box [solutions](/get-started/introduction.md) and is the platform of choice for developers seeking to build next generation, generative AI powered applications and services.
+It is the foundation for Elastic's [solutions](/get-started/introduction.md) and for developers seeking to build next generation, generative AI powered applications and services.
 
-The {{search-platform}} evolved from the {{stack}} and continues to be open by design.
-It's a fast and highly scalable set of components — {{es}}, {{kib}}, {{beats}}, {{ls}}, and others — that together enable you to securely take data from any source, in any format, and then store, search, analyze, and visualize it.
-
-You have many options for deploying the {{search-platform}} to suit your needs, which are summarized in [](/get-started/deployment-options.md).
+The {{search-platform}} is a fast and highly scalable set of components — {{es}}, {{kib}}, {{beats}}, {{ls}}, and others — that together enable you to securely take data from any source, in any format, and then store, search, analyze, and visualize it.
 
 :::{tip}
+The components that share the same versioning scheme are often referred to as the _{{stack}}_. Learn more in [](/get-started/versioning-availability.md).
+:::
+
+You have many options for deploying the {{search-platform}} to suit your needs, which are summarized in [](/get-started/deployment-options.md).
+<!--
+TBD: Is this necessary to cover here? How can we make this easier to understand and navigation?
 To learn how to deploy {{es}}, {{kib}}, and supporting orchestration technologies, refer to [](/deploy-manage/index.md).
 To learn how to deploy additional ingest and consume components, refer to the documentation for the component.
-:::
+-->
 
 Continue reading to learn how these components work together.
 

get-started/versioning-availability.md

@@ -13,17 +13,20 @@ Learn how Elastic products are versioned, the lifecycle of features, and how to
 
 ## Understanding versioning
 
-Most Elastic products, like {{es}} or {{kib}}, share the same versioning pattern, based on the {{stack}}. Orchestrators such as {{ece}} and {{eck}}, and other tools such as code clients and SDKs, are versioned independently of the Elastic Stack. The {{ecloud}} console and {{serverless-short}} projects are always automatically updated with the latest changes.
+Many components of the [{{search-platform}}](/get-started/search-ai-platform.md) (such as {{es}} and {{kib}}) share the same versioning pattern.
+In the documentation, this group of components is typically referred to as the {{stack}}.
 
-The Elastic Stack products use semantic versioning in the `X.Y.Z` format, such as `9.0.0`.
+Orchestrators such as {{ece}} and {{eck}}, and other tools such as code clients and SDKs, are versioned independently of the {{search-platform}}. The {{ecloud}} console and {{serverless-short}} projects are always automatically updated with the latest changes.
+
+The components of the {{search-platform}} generally use semantic versioning in the `X.Y.Z` format, such as `9.0.0`.
 
 | Version | Description |
 | ----- | ----- |
 | Major (X) | Indicates significant changes, such as new features, breaking changes, and major enhancements. Upgrading to a new major version may require changes to your existing setup and configurations. |
 | Minor (Y) | Introduces new features and improvements, while maintaining backward compatibility with the previous minor versions within the same major version. Upgrading to a new minor version should not require any changes to your existing setup. |
 | Patch (Z) | Contains bug fixes and security updates, without introducing new features or breaking changes. Upgrading to a new patch version should be seamless and not require any changes to your existing setup. |
 
-Understanding Elastic Stack versioning is essential for [upgrade planning](/deploy-manage/upgrade.md) and ensuring compatibility.
+Understanding versioning is essential for [upgrade planning](/deploy-manage/upgrade.md) and ensuring compatibility, particularly in the self-managed [deployment option](/get-started/deployment-options.md).
 
 ## Availability of features
 
@@ -52,11 +55,7 @@ Features available to you can differ based on deployment type, product lifecycle
 
 | Category | Example |
 | ----- | ----- |
-| Elastic Stack versions | [{{search-platform}}](/get-started/search-ai-platform.md) version 9.0.0 and later, including 9.1.0 |
+| Platform product or component versions | {{stack}} version 9.0.0 and later, including 9.1.0 |
 | Deployment types | [{{serverless-full}}](/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/serverless.md), [{{ech}}](/deploy-manage/deploy/elastic-cloud/cloud-hosted.md), [{{ece}}](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise.md), [{{eck}}](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s.md), and [Self-managed deployments](/deploy-manage/deploy/self-managed.md) |
 | Orchestrator versions | [{{ece}}](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise.md) 4.0.0 and later, [{{eck}}](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s.md) 3.0.0 and later |
 | Serverless project types | {{es}}, Elastic {{observability}}, and {{elastic-sec}} |
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