A welcome is a design decision
In 2001, the desktop greeted you before it asked anything back. Blue sky, green ground, and rounded controls made a blank screen feel like a place with a point of view. The first action was not a task; it was an invitation.
That optimism was not accidental. It lived in bright title bars, soft bevels, and the pause before a folder opened. Good interface writing can borrow the trick: make the next step obvious, then make it feel worth taking.