Not sure this will work for everyone, but this worked for me to fix the problem where no UI or buttons were visible on the startup screen.
A) Exit Master of Orion, using Task Manager if necessary.
B) Install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2013 with its defaults, currently available from Microsoft at:
https://www.microsof...s.aspx?id=40784
C) Restart the computer, and start Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars