I really don't know why they don't add a checkbox in the search/filter box for searching for unread emails. This is the uber geeky way to do it, and frankly I should not have to search this way.
In the field "Has the words" put "is:unread" (without quotes of course) and hit Search. Since I am a Labels whore, I now have Labels setup for unread mail by Label.
GMail rocks, it would just rock a lot more if it was more user friendly. I should not have to search the GMail Google Group to find out how to search for unread email.
While I am at it, I should be able to create a Filter based on a Label.
