Some people can be confused about versioning and that the SMCP version is not the same as the Operator version (even though the version for the latest X.Y.Z is the same for both). (related tickets: OSSM-5925 / OSSM-6351)

X.Y-1.Z and X.Y-2.Z SMCP version releases don't have their operator and they are part of X.Y.Z operators as well as X.Y.Z SMCP. ( as it is described in the Understanding versioning section). (tl;dr there is only one operator with the X.Y.Z verison)

Let's imagine that a customer is on 2.4.2 operator with smcp v2.4(2.4.2) and wants to have the latest v2.4.11, they need to upgrade the operator to the 2.6.2 first to get 2.4.11 SMCP images.

For the 2.6.2 / 2.5.5 / 2.4.11 release, we introduced that the operator version is mentioned in each SMCP version section because the release notes contain info about the SMCP version only.
So now when the same customer looks at the 2.4.11 release notes where is

This release of Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh is included with the Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh Operator 2.6.2 

they already know which operator they need in order to get SMCP 2.4.11

From my POV, it would be beneficial to have the same sentences in some previous release notes as well.
table version: