Updates for RTOFSv2.4.4 operational upgrade (#2800) (#2921)

The upstream RTOFS system was upgraded to v2.4.4 on September 13th, 2024.

A new GFS (`v16.3.17`) version resulted from this upgrade due to the
second digit change (`3 -> 4`) and resulting COM path update
(`../rtofs/v2.4`). No other change in the GFS in ops for this
operational upgrade.

Also some requested cleanup/decluttering of release notes. Have deleted
all older release notes and renamed the most recent version notes to
`Release_Notes.md`. Future implementations will update this same file
instead of making a new file.

Refs #2320