Chakra is a desktop distribution forked from Arch Linux. Not too long ago, it was one of my favorite desktop distributions, even made my list of the Top 6 KDE distributions in 2011.
But problems with its graphical package manager, and the fact that latest releases do not even have one, has seen it drop off my list, at least for now. (Note: Chakra’s developers are working on a graphical package manager called Akabei.)
The latest edition (released Sunday, February 10), is Chakra 2013.02, code-named Benz. It ships with (Linux) kernel 3.7.6 and KDE 4.10. While a review is being written, chakra linux 2013.02-benz preview brings you a few screen shots from a test installation.
This is the login screen.
The default desktop. That is not the default wallpaper.
The desktop showing a StackFolder. Note that StackFolder is not installed by default.
Kapudan, Chakra’s first boot program, offers four menu styles to choose from. The Classical or Simple menu is one of them.
The Kickoff menu is another.
List of installed multimedia applications as seen from the Kickoff menu.
The Lancelot menu.
Partial list of installed Internet applications as seen from Lancelot.
Homerun is a fullscreen menu style. This is its populated Favorites tab.
And this shows installed Office applications as seen from its Office menu category.
Shutdown options in Homerun.
Though not a option in Kapudan, The Takeoff Launcher is another menu style available. This screen shot shows its Favorites tab.
This is the first page of its Applications tab.
Non-native KDE applications are delivered on Chakra as Bundles. This screen shot shows a partial list of applications in the Bundle Manager.
You may read the release announcement and download an installation image from here.
