Selenium RC (Remote Control) was an early component of the Selenium suite, facilitating automated cross-browser web application testing through a server and client library setup compatible with multiple programming languages like Java, Perl, C#, and Python. Despite its pioneering role, Selenium RC faced limitations such as slower execution due to JavaScript injections, lack of support for headless browsers, and challenges with parallel testing and complex browser interactions. These shortcomings led to the development and eventual preference for Selenium WebDriver, which offers more efficient and direct browser automation by utilizing browser-native capabilities, a smaller and more object-oriented API, and enhanced user interaction emulation. Selenium WebDriver benefits from strong support from major browser vendors, enabling robust and stable testing across modern browsers, and is further complemented by Selenium Grid for parallel test execution. While Selenium RC had advantages such as automatic HTML report generation, its deprecation in favor of WebDriver marks a shift towards more streamlined and reliable automation frameworks.