It was designed to be easily accessible and downloadable, so that it could be used by people with very little computer experience and on a range of older hardware that was no longer supported by the latest versions of proprietary operating systems.

[14][15] If they choose, users could remove the default HandyMenu and substitute the classical menu of the Xfce desktop environment, as well as add software packages, and customize the look and feel of the distribution after becoming more experienced with the OS by reading the documentation.

[16][17] All the software needed for a functional desktop was included in the disk image, and an Internet connection was not necessary to install the program bundle prepackaged with the HandyLinux operating system.

Some small practical programs are also included: screenshot, calendar, file search, automatic download folder sorting, Bleachbit for cleaning, "Archive Manager", Disk Utility for formatting, Hardinfo for system information, and XL-wallpaper wallpaper changer.

[20] A seven-tab menu with a large computer icon enabled users to graphically launch applications,[21] and only a single click is necessary to open files and folders or run a program.