The systems of algebraic equations which arise from spectral discretizations of elliptic equations are full, and direct solutions of them are rarely feasible. Iterative methods are an attractive alternative because Fourier-transform techniques enable the discrete matrix-vector products to be computed with nearly the same efficiency as is possible for corresponding but sparse finite-difference discretizations. For realistic Dirichlet problems preconditioning is essential for acceptable convergence rates. A brief description of Chebyshev spectral approximations and spectral multigrid methods for elliptic problems is given. A survey of preconditioners for Dirichlet problems based on second-order finite difference methods is made. New preconditioning techniques based on higher-order finite differences and on the spectral matrix itself are presented. The preconditioners are analyzed in terms of their spectra and numerical examples are presented.