It looks like the C# language is gaining momentum—Im starting to see interesting, creative third-party applications springing up that are written in C#.
One eminently practical example is a little utility called Command Prompt Explorer Bar 1.1, downloadable for free from www.codeproject.com/csharp/CommandBar.asp. Its an application written entirely in C# and so requires that .Net Framework be installed for it to work. The application hooks into the decidedly non-C#-based Windows Explorer using .Net P/Invoke calls.
After the utility is installed, pressing the hot key Ctrl-M opens an embedded Command Prompt window to Windows Explorer. The Microsoft Windows PowerToy Command Prompt Here is similar, but this command-prompt window automatically stays synchronized with the current directory in Explorers Folders window and provides a series of macros for a few system administration and common development tasks.
Its a nice example of a next-generation Windows application that does something simple and is just plain useful.