I've been using Word Starter a lot recently. For some reason, it's all I've got at work, and it's also on the new HP subcompact (d1m) I finally received last week. It's not bad, and it even is nice enough to support the menu-based keyboard shortcuts I'm used to using. But when I tried to add a footnote -- I think that's Alt-I-N -- nothing happened. It sat around waiting for me to hit something after I. Perhaps I'm using Word 2000 shortcuts, or perhaps I just didn't remember correctly. But perhaps I can't add a footnote?

If you check the help to see how to add a footnote, Word Starter'll tell you that, sure enough, you can't add a footnote to a document.

Microsoft Word Starter 2010 is a simplified version of Word that comes pre-loaded on your computer. Word Starter includes features that are basic to creating and working with documents, but it does not include the rich set of features found in the full version of Word. This article lists the differences in features between Word Starter and the full version of Word.

If you find that you need a richer set of features than what Word Starter provides, you can easily upgrade from Word Starter to Word. On the Home tab, click Purchase to visit an online retailer, where you can purchase and download Office right away.


That's cute. Here's the footnote specific jive:

Footnotes and endnotes

Not available to create

If you open a document that contains footnotes or endnotes, you can click the footnote or endnote link to jump to the footnote or endnote. You can also cut, copy, or paste the footnote or endnote, and you can format the text.


Hrm. That seems weird. What if I want to move text that has a footnote by cutting and pasting? What if I want to duplicate text by copy and pasting? Does the footnote go away?

No, and that's how you add 'em. Highlight the footnote, copy, and paste in somewhere else. Now edit from the old footnote text to the new.

Of course, this requires that you have a doc to cut and paste from that already has a "donor" footnote. Hey, look! Here's one now! (Though always be wary of taking Word docs from strangers.)

It's an interesting move by Microsoft -- you're essentially giving Word away for free, except for those who don't like feeling constricted when they edit, in spite of the fact that pretty much everything is still there. Wonder how much we can thank OpenOffice for this?

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