said by 19579823:I guess but the password field shows ************ for a reason!!
Yeah, a reason that never ever applies to me.
I don't use paper-based computer terminals.
There's no-one looking over my shoulder.
The display is *gone* in the time it takes me to type a few characters and hit ENTER.
Since none of those are problems for me, there's no reason to obscure the password. Making it optional (and requiring explicit action to reveal) is a good solution.
Another good solution is the iOS approach of showing the actual character for a split-second and then blobbing it out; that is not safe if there are overlookers, but it's configurable.