I have a widescreen laptop running Windows XP that can display 1200x800. When I configured the video options, I set the resolution to 1200x1024. When I would go into the game the main menu would not appear. The game worked just fine, but the menu was required to get past the first intelligence transmission in the first mission. After a while I looked at the settings again and noticed the resolution issue and corrected it.
If the display resolution extends beyond the monitor, the extended area will not be visible. The solution is to bring the game resolution back to what the monitor can display.
I am posting this to try and save anyone else the trouble. It was not a bug, but user error.
Thanks for the hard work on this game. Its fun!