The new Ubuntu 16.04 LTS released in April 2016 is a great improvement over its predecessors. Its much faster and more fluid than any Ubuntu or Lubuntu distribution I've used. To install ubuntu on a pen drive you can go through my previous posts on this blog. But Beware: Ubuntu 16.04 takes a lot of time to boot from your USB HDD (pen drive). Although, shut down time is very less. I do not know why does it freeze after the GRUB. if anyone has a fix please do let me know.