Image Quality in Phil's review

When Phil gives the Nikon D80 an 8 and gives the Canon 40D a 9, does this really mean that all things being equal the pictures from the Nikon won't be as good as the Canon? Or does all it mean that without any post processing on the computer the jpeg image will be better on the Canon than the Nikon, but tells you nothing about the image quality if you use editing? I am looking at the Nikon, but when I make the jump from P and S to DSLR, don't want to feel that I could have gotten a better picture from the Canon for just a few hundred more. As to those images that I am going to print, I have always adjusted them on the software that comes with the camera, though I just bought Elements 6 and am going to buy a book on it tomorrow.
Thank you for your help.