This is common; the "Welcome Screen" often displays web-based content that may take a moment to load.
Function like "projects". They save your current session, including all open tables, map windows, and styling, so you can pick up where you left off. mapinfo-pro-17-0-5-build-9
These are the building blocks of MapInfo. A table can contain spatial data (points, lines, polygons) and associated attribute data from various sources like Excel, Access, or databases. This is common; the "Welcome Screen" often displays