An IRA at Waterhouse comes with no fee and requires no minimum balance. Schwab, by contrast, has always charged a maintenance fee on IRAs, which it recently doubled. As for usability, the sites come out fairly even. Setting up an account at either requires mailing in a signed document, and neither will let you start trading before you deposit a check into your account. Schwab's account setup process takes seven screens, Waterhouse's a few more.
Margin accounts are easy to set up on both sites.
Schwab posts a big warning about margin volatility at the top of its trading page, which is clean and minimal but not entirely obvious. It has no hyperlinked explanations to somewhat arcane market terms, such as stop or limit orders. And even though Schwab lets customers trade options, the explanation of how to do so is cursory at best. The Waterhouse site is marginally easier to navigate. Both sites makes a commendable effort to educate investors about the basics of investing.