1 MICROSOFT
Microsoft's main antitrust battle shifted from the United States to Europe this year, but the software giant remains steady in the REVIEW's rankings of the world's most admired companies. For the ninth straight year, the software giant tops our list, as readers ranked it No. 1 for long-term vision and No. 2 for financial soundness and as a company others try to emulate. Evidence: Revenues rose 13% to $32 billion in the year ended June 30, and operating income increased 11% to $13 billion. As to the vision thing, Microsoft pledged to invest a massive $6.8 billion in research and development in the current fiscal year. It's gearing up for the release of Longhorn, the next generation of the Windows operating system, and promises to spend $750 million to build its position in China by 2005.

2 NOKIA
For the second straight year, Finnish phone-making giant Nokia is second in our rankings, and once again tops the list in innovation. The company will need every bit of that in ...more