Found this (at last) in the VS2005 docs. Explains both of Cableguys' queries.
Textbox in the Compact Framework
-----------------------------------
Single-line TextBox controls, specified by the Multiline property, support only left alignment. Multiline text box controls can be aligned left, right, or center.
If Multiline is false, the .NET Compact Framework sizes the control to the Height specification, but only the first line in the TextBox is usable. The full .NET Framework keeps the height to one line.
The PasswordChar property is always an asterisk (*), regardless of what is specified.