The variety of the observational appearance of young isolated neutron stars must find an explanation in the framework of some unifying approach . Nowadays it is believed that such scenario must include magnetic field decay , the possibility of magnetic field emergence on a time scale \lesssim 10 ^ { 4 } – 10 ^ { 5 } yrs , significant contribution of non-dipolar fields , and appropriate initial parameter distributions . We present our results on the initial spin period distribution , and suggest that inconsistences between distributions derived by different methods for samples with different average ages can uncover field decay or/and emerging field . We describe a new method to probe the magnetic field decay in normal pulsars . The method is a modified pulsar current approach , where we study pulsar flow along the line of increasing characteristic age for constant field . Our calculations , performed with this method , can be fitted with an exponential decay for ages in the range 8 \times 10 ^ { 4 } – 3.5 \times 10 ^ { 5 } yrs with a time scale \sim 5 \times 10 ^ { 5 } yrs . We discuss several issues related to the unifying scenario . At first , we note that the dichotomy , among local thermally emitting neutron stars , between normal pulsars and the Magnificent Seven remains unexplained . Then we discuss the role of high-mass X-ray binaries in the unification of neutron star evolution . We note , that such systems allow to check evolutionary effects on a time scale longer than what can be probed with normal pulsars alone . We conclude with a brief discussion of importance of discovering old neutron stars accreting from the interstellar medium .