Hello, Just wanted to know that if we want to use datasheet mode of a list do we require office to be installed on the client machine. Thanks

You don't need to have Office installed for using datasheet mode. I believe an activeX is used for the datasheet view Pman http://www.pmansLab.com/

Hello, And that activex cotrol is just with IE or other browsers also have it Thanks

So that means i will have to install office... Yes, you need to have office installed. You can do some tests to see what the minimum configuration is (with or without Access for example), but they will need it. In addition, any users wanting to edit MS Word or Excel documents will need the respective apps installed. SharePoint MVP | Developer | Administrator | Speaker-- Twitter -- Blog - http://nextconnect.blogspot.com

Huh, so the upshot is that nothing has changed with SP 2010 re the need for the Office-provided ActiveX control on the client in order for datasheet view to work? Isn't one of 2010's claims to fame that it has cross-browser compatibility? As you all know, ActiveX is IE only. At the very least, they could provide this control in an installer package other than Office's. Not everyone has Office, and not everyone should need to have it to use this part of Sharepoint.

Except that SharePoint is an OFFICE product and its entire raison d'etre is for the collaboration of OFFICE documents. If you don't want to install Office then find another collaboation platform. There are dozens to choose from and with a much smaller price tag too. If at first you don't succeed, ask an MVP.

This article provides detailed explanation http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263526.aspx