Finally, you have a good sense of what the product does and doesn't do, and you have an opinion about its value for your readers. How do you present the information?
There are a few standard types of reviews. A stand- product review examines one item only, and doesn't pay very much attention to the other products on the market. It simply examines how well this product solves the problem, and answers, "Is this good?" not "Is this better?"
On the other hand, a comparative review answers the question, "which of these products solves the problem best?" Comparative reviews are common when several products offer the same basic functionality (making the variations the important component) and when a user is apt to purchase only one of such an item (such as a DVD player or a flowchart application).
A technology overview can look like a comparative review, but they're generally not as evaluative or as exhaustive. Rather than saying whether a product is good or better than its competitors, a technology overview describes different ways to approach a problem, with products described as possible solutions. These are becoming more prevalent as some product categories increase in complexity. It's nearly impossible to do a fair review of any package that requires its users to spend two months in class before generating a "hello world" result - such categories include applications like enterprise-class e-commerce development tools and customer relationship software.
There are two other article categories that are not really reviews, but are sometimes treated as such (particularly by readers who take exception to the contents): opinion columns and product announcements.
Product announcements, like the "New and Improved" pages here in extended attributes, merely say that the product exists. If there's any qualitative statement, it's attributed to the vendor ("According to the company, this is the fastest ... ").
While it's gratifying when opinion articles (particularly in the computer press) are based on personal experience and factual tire-kicking, that's not always the case and not necessarily required. An opinion column represents one individual's point of after all, which can be completely onesided.
