As far as I remember, one would have to go through lots of hassle to compile the code (download a couple of programs)
Hmm no, you just need CMake and your favorite compiler.
Will I suffer some significant performance loss just setting the matrixmode right now myself?
No no, don't worry. A single OpenGL call, and especially this one, won't ruin your performances.
Of course you can also wait till release, but who knows when that will gonna be? In a year? Or two?
Or maybe in 2 weeks