Apple is moving quickly to patch holes and repair incompatibilities within Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, having already providing some developers with betas of the first maintenance and security update planned for the new operating system.

Three people familiar with the matter say the Mac maker issued the first external builds of Mac OS X 10.6.1 to a select group of developers on Monday, September 1st. The move comes just four days after Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard hit retail shelves.

Those receiving the first builds are part of smaller, more exclusive seeding programs run by the Cupertino-based company. They traditionally operate on an invitation-only basis, unlike the Apple Developer Connection open all developers willing to pay membership fees.

Still, ADC members have historically received equivalent pre-release software builds within a week or two of those people belonging to the more exclusive programs, meaning ADC members could see their first taste of Mac OS X 10.6.1 as early as this weekend.

Thus far, little is reportedly known about Apple's agenda for Mac OS X 10.6.1, as documentation for the release is limited. Some of the most common problems encountered by users of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard are believed to be out of the company's hands, involving third-party printer drivers and application incompatibilities.