Scores are on the traditional letter grading scale from A+ to F with C being average (but still acceptable). I'm using this scale to give proper granularity for software that's worthwhile, while keeping the lowest of scores rather general.

This means if a program gets a grade of C+ it is still viable software and worth using. A grade of C or C- is still usable software. Only things scoring a D+ or lower will be questionable with a rare F indicating that it's actually malicious software (a D- will simply denote awful but still good-intentioned software).

The three categories are Aesthetics, Usefulness and Quality.
- Aesthetics deals purely with how beautiful a program is visually. Keep in mind most utilities will rank around a C as they aren't meant to be visually beautiful.
- Usefulness has everything to do with the program trying to serve some purpose and how well it serves that purpose will determine its grade.
- Quality specifies how bug-free the software is and in some cases its usability. If a program is bug-free but overly difficult to use, its Quality grade will suffer.

Console-only software (programs that don't have a window and use the DOS-like command-line window) will get a N/A rating for Aesthetics.

The overall grade, or Score, is an average of the previous 3 categories weighted by my personal opinion. A program might average a B but I give it a B- because when viewed as a whole, the software is just a tad underwhelming. Likewise, I may give a program a C on Aesthetics but an A+ overall if it has no equal for its purpose.