[DOCS] Connectors 8.16.0 release notes (#115856)

(cherry picked from commit f121e09)

Author: leemthompo

docs/reference/connector/docs/connectors-release-notes.asciidoc

@@ -4,7 +4,13 @@
 <titleabbrev>Release notes</titleabbrev>
 ++++
 
-[INFO]
+[NOTE]
 ====
-Prior to version 8.16.0, the connector release notes were published as part of the https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/enterprise-search/current/changelog.html[Enterprise Search documentation].
+Prior to version *8.16.0*, the connector release notes were published as part of the {enterprise-search-ref}/changelog.html[Enterprise Search documentation].
 ====
+
+*Release notes*:
+
+* <<es-connectors-release-notes-8-16-0>>
+
+include::release-notes/connectors-release-notes-8.16.0.asciidoc[]

docs/reference/connector/docs/release-notes/connectors-release-notes-8.16.0.asciidoc

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+[[es-connectors-release-notes-8-16-0]]
+=== 8.16.0 connectors release notes
+
+[discrete]
+[[es-connectors-release-notes-deprecation-notice]]
+==== Deprecation notices
+
+* *Direct index access for connectors and sync jobs*
++
+IMPORTANT: Directly accessing connector and sync job state through `.elastic-connectors*` indices is deprecated, and will be disallowed entirely in a future release.
+
+* Instead, the Elasticsearch Connector APIs should be used. Connectors framework code now uses the <<connector-apis,Connector APIs>> by default.
+See https://github.com/elastic/connectors/pull/2884[*PR 2902*].
+
+* *Docker `enterprise-search` namespace deprecation*
++
+IMPORTANT: The `enterprise-search` Docker namespace is deprecated and will be discontinued in a future release. 
++
+Starting in `8.16.0`, Docker images are being transitioned to the new `integrations` namespace, which will become the sole location for future releases. This affects the https://github.com/elastic/connectors[Elastic Connectors] and https://github.com/elastic/data-extraction-service[Elastic Data Extraction Service].
++
+During this transition period, images are published to both namespaces:
++
+** *Example*:
++
+Deprecated namespace::
+`docker.elastic.co/enterprise-search/elastic-connectors:v8.16.0`
++
+New namespace::
+`docker.elastic.co/integrations/elastic-connectors:v8.16.0`
++
+Users should migrate to the new `integrations` namespace as soon as possible to ensure continued access to future releases.
+
+[discrete]
+[[es-connectors-release-notes-8-16-0-enhancements]]
+==== Enhancements
+
+* Docker images now use Chainguard's Wolfi base image (`docker.elastic.co/wolfi/jdk:openjdk-11-dev`), replacing the previous `ubuntu:focal` base.
+
+* The Sharepoint Online connector now works with the `Sites.Selected` permission instead of the broader permission `Sites.Read.All`.
+See https://github.com/elastic/connectors/pull/2762[*PR 2762*].
+
+* Starting in 8.16.0, connectors will start using proper SEMVER, with `MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH`, which aligns with Elasticsearch/Kibana versions. This drops the previous `.BUILD` suffix, which we used to release connectors between Elastic stack releases. Going forward, these inter-stack-release releases will be suffixed instead with `+<timestamp>`, aligning with Elastic Agent and conforming to SEMVER. 
+See https://github.com/elastic/connectors/pull/2749[*PR 2749*].
+
+* Connector logs now use UTC timestamps, instead of machine-local timestamps. This only impacts logging output.
+See https://github.com/elastic/connectors/pull/2695[*PR 2695*].
+
+[discrete]
+[[es-connectors-release-notes-8-16-0-bug-fixes]]
+==== Bug fixes
+
+* The Dropbox connector now fetches the files from team shared folders.
+See https://github.com/elastic/connectors/pull/2718[*PR 2718*].