Extend the cell elements with a button(s) (via decorator for example) which will be visible without putting the grid in edit mode. The buttons should not be visible by default and their visibility will be controlled via property of the column. These buttons can be RadButtonElements which will not hurt the performance. Their purpose will be to inform the end user that some cell is a combo or a date time cell without having to open its editor in advance. When the button is clicked, the corresponding action should be executed e.g. for combo cell, open the editor and show the popup; for spin cell open the editor and perform the click of the desired button. Same goes for the rest of the editors - mccb, color, browse, date time, etc.