Making use of ability to convert image backups to virtual machine formats

If I buy a new machine with windows 7 or 8 on it, is it an option to avoid having to rebuild my system on the new machine by converting an image backup of my system to VMware format, installing VMware on the new machine, and then adding the converted image backup to the new machine? Would it work? What licences would I need, given that my current system is on an oem version of xp pro?

If it would work, which Acronis product would I need to backup my new machine including my current system running within a virtual environment on the new machine.