[popcornmix]

Unfortunately the create_sdcard facility is no more - removed from OpenELEC master a few days ago. This means that disk images are now the only way to get started (unless you manually partition), as in theory disk images are easier to support.

Yes, I often use create_sdcard. I think it was removed as it is a tool (like win32diskimages or dd) and doesn't need to be shipped with every updated image.
As long as you kept a copy, just add it to your path, and you can still create sdcard images. E.g. use this: create_sdcard.