Many applications of s.c. magnets have been proposed and considered during the last decade. They may be classified into three catagories: S.c. magnets as research tools in particle and solid state physics, in energy technology, and for various industrial applications. All these are still pursued in Europe but a considerable shift in effort to specific projects has occurred during the last decade. Some main projects are discussed: beam line magnets for new particle accelerators, high field magnets including hybrid magnets, s.c. magnets for fusion devices such as the Large Coil Project or Tore-Supra, and s.c. magnets for NMR devices or magnetic separation of weak magnetic materials. The main trend is towards very high fields and magnets with large field volume. Both are extremely challenging for improving the conductor and magnet performance with respect to stable and non-degrading operation under mechanical load conditions. Developments in the focus of present interest are improvement of the stress-strain behaviour of Nb3Sn conductors and operation of magnets with subcooled helium. In addition, engineering and computations to predict mechanical performance are getting more and more important.