I really like the automatic climate control. I don't think it would be very easy to do a swap later.
For me, the climate control took a long learning curve. The way they named the modes is sort of confusing. First off, they have a button that says "Auto". This means the AC Compressor is on.
So, if you set it at 80 degrees on a cold day, you are driving around with your AC Compressor on and also heat coming from your heater core doing most of the work.
The next button is "Econ" or Economy. This means AC Compressor Off. By having this button on in the winter, I notice better power because my engine is not driving the compressor. Also, on a nice day, I can use the Econ button and set the temp at 60 and it blows ambient or outside temp air in the cabin.
Jarrod is correct though that the default setting on the "Econ" mode in the winter for warm air is blowing on your feet. But, you have a "Manual" button on there that really just changes the routing of the air to the vents.
So... If you hit "Auto" and then hit "Manual", you have turned on the AC Compressor, and then can cycle through the vent options. The car is still in a sort of Auto mode with the AC on, but you are manually telling the air where to go.
It really has the same features as the knobs and is a bit more confusing but I like seeing the actual number of temperature I want, and I also like the way it looks better than the knobs.