Upon release, there will be a "standalone" version, which just sets fs_homepath to "." aka current directory.
You can do this manually as well.
That should not occur at all, especially on a release build. It's using a more modern compiler with higher optimisation settings, and we've made changes specifically to improve performance, especially on newer mods.
I'm not entirely sure if the buildbot builds are using the release configuration.
Or more specifically, /bind x "minimize; messageMode" to also activate chat and avoid being lamed. That was Link's concern.