Hi Peer,

re:
> Your version is better than both because I can drill down both in the Scene Browser and in the
> Viewports without needing to use a special selection tool.

In the next v5 beta there will also be an additional shortcut of using Ctrl+click on an unselected item
inside of a group will select just that object directly bypassing any group structures.


> Is there a way to select a range of items in the objects section of the browser, for example by selecting
> the first and then shift-click on the last?

You can use "swiping" where you press down and then drag vertically over other items.


> Something that causes me some confusion is that the name in the Object Properties Panel in the upper
> right corner doesn't immediately get updated if I change the name of an object by clicking on the name
> of another object in the Objects section of the browser. <....>

This is a bug, it's been fixed for the next v5 beta.


> Another issue I've run into is that selecting a group of points doesn't cause a yellow halo to appear around
> those points in the viewports. I see an Edit Frame in the ortho views, but nothing in 3D:

The yellow highlighting not working on point objects in groups is another bug that's been fixed
for the next v5 beta.

The Edit Frame not showing up in the 3D viewport with point objects selected is a separate bug from that
but that one that is also present in v4 and earlier. I'll see if I can get that fixed up too. But your case
there with them all stacked up along an elevation line probably won't work because the edit frame only
shows up in the 3D view on planar objects.

Thanks, - Michael