I believe that the splash screen was removed in this version... the desktop now loads so fast that it's really not even needed. If you still want one, you can go to 'Applications -> Add/Remove'. Make sure that after "Show:" you have All Available Applications selected, and type in 'Splash'. The first result should be "Splash Screen". Select that, install it, and click on the button that comes up. You can find splash themes at gnomelook.org, and can change it any time in System -> Preferences -> Splash Screen
I believe that the splash screen was removed in this version... the desktop now loads so fast that it's really not even needed. If you still want one, you can go to 'Applications -> Add/Remove'. Make sure that after "Show:" you have All Available Applications selected, and type in 'Splash'. The first result should be "Splash Screen". Select that, install it, and click on the button that comes up. You can find splash themes at gnomelook.org, and can change it any time in System -> Preferences -> Splash Screen