I would like to be able to apply the OS X “locked” attribute to files so that when the document is opened in its respective external application then it is opened as read-only. I am thinking of MS Office and iWork documents that I want to view but not have my fat fingers change. 
The “locked” switch in the Info panel does not do this. (Should it?) It’s OK to reveal the doc in Finder and use Finder Get Info to change the attribute, but time consuming when acting on a number of files in multiple groups.
(Extra credit: being able to apply the “Stationery Pad” attribute to documents.)
