The chakra-project is an Arch Linux based distribution with a tweaked kde environment. KDE is a very cool desktop environment but its very heavy on system resources, what chakra developers are doing is tuning this desktop environment to provide a faster experience to the use, pair that with the ROCK-SOLID ArchLinux backend and you have one of the best Linux distributions available to date.
They provide a hassle free live cd that anyone can try, and best of all, ITS FREE!!!
Another plus side, its that the Arch Linux community is very savvy Linux-wise and will help you in everything they can I you have a problem.
you can it even install chakra in an USB drive and have your operating system follow you wherever you go!
Here is a screenshot of the live cd installer: 
And to wrap it up, the also made some very nice applications to control your system, shaman and arxin. The first one is a frontend for “pacman” the software installer and application maintainer for arch linux, the second one is a tool for tweaking many advanced system settings (like your boot parameters) in an easy way.
Here is a screenshot so you can see how it looks once installed, pretty sleek if you ask me.
So go ahead and give it a try you wont regret it.