One of the ways I search for people in my database in RM7 is to use the Index, and simply type in the Surname until I get near; even more so, I use the many Groups I’ve created to find everyone in a particular group, and just move from first person in the group to the last.
I cannot find the Index or Groups in RM8, except to tell me the groups of which any one individual is part.
The People side view panel has the index where you can search for a person. It also has your history list and booked mark people. You can add the highlighted person to a bookmark or an existing group. There is also in the People tab, views for Pedigree, Family, Descendants, People list and Couple list. From the People list you can see all people or filter to show only people in a created group.
F2 will bring up the Command Palette, search for groups. Or from the People side bar, in the index, click on the 4th Icon (groups) and press the + button to add. Existing groups will show here and you can easily add the highlighted person to an existing group.