<xsl:template match="node()">
is an abbreviation for:
<xsl:template match="child::node()">
This matches any node type that can be selected via the child:: axis:
-
element
-
text-node
-
processing-instruction (PI) node
-
comment node.
On the other side:
<xsl:template match="*">
is an abbreviation for:
<xsl:template match="child::*">
This matches any element.
The XPath expression: someAxis::* matches any node of the primary node-type for the given axis.
For the child:: axis the primary node-type is element.