What are some good sample desktop application projects I could do in C# .NET

Question

What are some good desktop application projects I could code up that would be good practice? I have gone through the .NET Framework namespace structure pinpointing some of the namespaces and classes I have not used, so that I could come up with a project or two to create using them.

However, I am having trouble thinking of projects that have real-world use.

I would like to hear ideas for projects that cover these criteria:

1. Use many of the namespaces in the .NET Framework
2. Be "real": I find it hard to get into something if it doesn't have real practical use
3. It would be ideal if the sum of all submitted projects covered literally every namespace that is relevant to desktop applications (I aim high)

The aim here is to expose myself to much of the .NET framework for the purpose of growing as a developer.

Thank you.

Answer 1

A couple from the top of my head:

RSS aggregator that loads feeds and saves them to a database. Then add some searching and filtering to it and you should move into a few different namespaces. Of the top of my head, System, System.Net, System.XML, System.Data, System.Linq, System.Collections.Generic, System.Threading, System.Configuration (if you want to you configuration files), System.Printing.

A project I've spent some time on is a IDictionary-based object that is a configuration tool I can use to store configuration settings to a database. Every time I get to the "halfway" mark I end up discovering more functionality that I need and add to it. Pretty limited in it's namespace usage, but it is a challenging exercise that you could find a lot of use in the long run.