The Tucows Ratings Guide is broken down into four essential categories: Usability, Help, Documentation, and Support, Program Enhancements, and Overall Evaluation. Each criterion contains separate categories that derive the overall score for each criterion. The graph on your right displays each point total and based on percentage how it affects the application in the review.

To be listed within the Tucows software library, a program must meet 50% of the total score. To achieve our highest award, it must obtain 67% of the total points. The point totals are derived to award the best all-around applications. Although an application can achieve the highest award without stellar help and documentation or additional program enhancements, an application can't score enough points if it lacks usability.

Usability:

• Installation: This is the mechanism or trigger that installs an application. As a minimum requirement for this category, we request a Start Menu Program Group installed to achieve any points.
• Program interface: This is the reviewer's overall opinion of the interface. We rate on this item according to resizing issues, icon packs for certain OS's, design flaws, refresh rates, expandable toolbars, viewing options and accessibility of the features.
• Unique features: The software reviewer's rate supplied features that go above and beyond the intended use of the application. Intended functions are not considered unique.
• Learning curve and accessibility: Software usability means an application is easy to learn and remember, efficient, visually pleasing, fun to use and quick to recover from errors. How accessible are the features? Does the application package offer quick launch, desktop or additional shortcuts?
• Functionality: This is the reviewer's overall opinion of the functionality of the application. The reviewers' rate this in terms of functionality, speed and resources.
• Direct comparison: This criterion is decided against an applications' competition. It is rated by comparing our archive, past reviews, related features and related applications against an application's functionality and usability, and the features it provides.
• Uninstall mechanism: This criterion refers to items left behind in the installation directory or Start Menu Program group. This item does not refer to registry keys needed to determine trial expiration and use of the product. The reviewers test for left-behind entries to award points.
• Repair mechanism: Does this application employ a repair feature in either the install or uninstall? From a user's stand-point, especially a dial-up user, downloading and re-installing would be the least appealing option if the program is presenting errors. A repair feature is helpful to both users and reviewers.

Help - Documentation - Support:

• Basic help and documentation: This criterion is rated on presentation, offline documentation or online documentation, and what the application offers.
• Tutorials: Step-by-step style help and documentation that aids the rapid learning of the program's basic operation.
• Content: Help and documentation, by no means, needs to be extensive; it just needs to be useful, accessible and descriptive. We look at items such as embedded help, context-sensitive help, mouse-overs, tips, readmes and tutorials.
• Tips on startup: By default, if the reviewer determines that an application has no need for tips, one point will be awarded automatically.
• Customer support: Reviewers rate this criterion based on online or offline support provided by the author, free of charge, to the end-user.

Program Enhancements:

• File size: In relation to quality, quantity and popularity, the reviewers compare your application against past and present reviews, experience with related and semi-related applications, and file sizes of your direct competitors.
• Author home page: The application and Web site go hand in hand. With that in mind, the home page is rate in terms of what is offered, design and support.
• Keyboard shortcuts: Does the program have extensive keyboard shortcuts? This option helps novice, advanced and old-school users. Yes, we have mice, but the majority of users – just like all coders – still primarily use the keyboard.
• Step-by-step configuration wizards: Does this program have step-by-step configuration wizards for novice and advanced users, immediately following installation, to further assist in customizing the application?
• Microsoft Designed for XP Logo Certification: While we are not affiliated with Microsoft, we award a point to an application due to the extensive testing, time and money that a developer and application must endure to meet Microsoft's Logo Certification requirements.

Overall Evaluation:

• Cost vs. value: Is the value of the program worth a purchase?
• Reviewer's recommendation: Would the reviewer recommend this application?
• Reviewer's overall impression: The reviewer assigns points based on their overall experience with the application.