Many people work in office settings with co-workers sometimes looking at their screen (Pair programming, getting help.) Masking passwords by default is a good thing.<p>Also, don't forget sight-impaired accessibility features. OS features like VoiceOver on Mac will read what you type, unless you are on a masked text field in which case the OS knows not to say each character you type for the whole office to hear.<p>A user option to toggle the visibility is welcome. Many of the Mac password panels today have a checkbox under the field for "Show Password."