Apple is preparing an update for MacOS 8.5, due to ship early next year, but possibly in line to appear later this month. The new release, MacOS 8.5.1 interestingly appears to solve a problem that Apple had previously denied existed, despite numerous complaints from users. Since the release of 8.5, many Mac owners have informed Mac-oriented Web sites of difficulties getting freshly upgraded machines to boot successfully. In some instances, drive partitions were overwritten, destroying users' data and applications. Despite a growing body of evidence for the problem, Apple claimed it had been unable to replicate users' symptoms. Indeed, Apple has yet to acknowledge the problem. However, 8.5.1 is believed to contain a new version of Apple's hard drive formatting utility, Drive Setup 1.6.2, which will install a more robust hard disk driver, according to source close to the company, quoted on Macweek.com. The update will also fix several bugs that emerged in Sherlock, Apple's new unified search system capable of tracking down data on the Internet, connected hard drives and network servers simultaneously. Shortly after the release of 8.5, Apple issued a statement that it had identified problems with Sherlock and was working on a fix. At the same time, software incorporates a number of fixes that address glitches in the current version of the MacOS. Bugs reported to be squashed in 8.5.1 include a memory leak that causes AppleScript scripts to hide RAM from the rest of the system until it crashes, problems with the OS' asynchronous I/O that also generates memory problems, most notably with the FileMaker database, and improvement to the OS' support of third-party Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) devices. MacOS releases follow a bi-annual schedule, with major releases shipping late summer and point upgrades posted on the company's Web site early in the following year. That routine suggests a January/February release date for 8.5.1, but Macweek's source claimed the update will ship sooner, sometime this month. ®