TeXworks is slim and quick. It was one of the first TeX editors with an integrated PDF previewer and especially an automatically split screen for writing and previewing. The same GUI on Linux and Windows makes switching between platforms easy.
Then ports of LyX to iOS and Android would be great: so we could use LaTeX on the iPad or Android tablets when we have Internet via WiFi or 3G/4G available.
Which capable open source software from this century would you recommend?
When I divert from a class or a package, I look at the source and redefine it as I desire. I have full control with LaTeX regarding the finest details. Which software gives you full control?
I used it for creative writing. While I used LaTeX for the text, I heavily used TikZ: the "mindmap" library for drawing mindmaps, the "chains" library for story lines, the "trees" library for relations and connections of fictional characters, matrices for easy positiong, arrows for connecting. And a very good point was: I could use the same macros in the conceptional drawings as in the text, regarding macros for names for example which still could change, and so staying consistent.