Whether Steve Jobs really does only need to get his hormones back in balance, or there’s something more serious going on, Apple are going to need to find a new top dog at some juncture.

For me, there’s one outstanding candidate for the job and (whisper it) he comes from the old enemy: Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky.

Sinofsky’s performed not one, but two minor miracles at Microsoft. He was the man responsible for the magnificent overhaul of the Office suite, with Office 2007. Microsoft was so scared of tampering with the Office cash cow that the software had barely changed in appearance since the days of Windows 3.1. Redesigning the interface on a piece of software that is used by the vast majority of office and homes around the world was fraught with risk, but Sinofsky and his team pulled it off with care and no small amount of style. Now not only is it immeasurably easier to produce professional-looking documents in Word, for example, but fast-gaining open-source rivals such as OpenOffice now look tired by comparison.

Following his success with Office, Sinofsky was sent to rescue Windows from the car crash that was Vista. The end result? Windows 7. Arguably the first Microsoft operating system since Windows 95 to create an enormous feel-good factor. Yes, it’s still in beta, and yes, it could still all go horribly wrong. But all the indications are that Microsoft’s learnt the lessons of Vista, and produced a lean, powerful and attractive operating system that actually makes computing easier. And they did it on Sinofsky’s watch.

I first encountered Sinofsky in the flesh at last year’s Professional Developers Conference, and he has that Jobs-like combination of public speaking with confidence, charisma and complete control of the subject matter. During a press conference, he dealt brilliantly with a verbal assault from a French journalist with an axe to grind over one of Vista’s many flaws, accusing Microsoft of not even testing the software it pumps out.

He waited patiently for the grand-standing hack to vent his spleen, before calmly asserting: “Whenever someone finds a part of Windows they don’t like, they assume it’s something we put a junior design team on to torture people with. We have 40 people who do nothing but test the [Windows] product every day. We’re more committed to usability than we ever were. But that’s just like saying we like quality.” Direct, funny, assertive. The hack sat down and shut up pretty quickly.

Compare and contrast that to the way Steve Jobs stand-in Phil Schiller deals with this mildly impertinent question from Channel 4 News’s Ben Cohen. Schiller simply blanks the question and darts a pleading glance at the off-camera Apple PR flunkies, who cut the interview short. And this is the senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

Sinofksy might lack hardware experience, but he’s smart, level-headed and has one hell of a track record of delivering innovative products. At PDC he was even wearing jeans and a polo-neck, so he’s got the Apple uniform already.

Could Apple really appoint a Microsoft man as CEO? Yes, it could. And yes, it should.