I am not a programmer, but an end-user.  I like your Abiword, because it is
easy to use and not chock full of stuff noone needs.  I really like the "on
the fly" spell checker.  
Suggestions:
1.  Make  the spell checker recognise other languages.
2.  Have a "word count" function. ( This should be easy to implement, and
is necessary, especially for us college students!)
3.  "Skins" would be a very nice if unnecessary addition!!
Thats my two cents, thanks for the space,
Nelson