Final answer:
VMware recommends using the VMXNET3 virtual network interface card for the best performance in virtual environments, as it surpasses older emulated cards and is specifically designed for virtualization.
Step-by-step explanation:
The VMware recommended virtual network interface card (vNIC) for the best performance is the VMXNET series, with the latest version being VMXNET3. This choice is recommended because it is developed by VMware specifically for virtual environments and offers a range of features such as multiqueue support, Receive Side Scaling (RSS), and MSI/MSI-X interrupt delivery. VMXNET3 outperforms the older hardware emulated cards such as the Intel PRO/1000, AMD PCNet, and others that are typically listed in the selection menu when configuring a virtual machine's network interfaces.