I would assume as any other distro. Windows applications are run through Wine or Proton on Linux. I am not currently using Vanilla OS on my machine (using arch btw), still waiting for the stable 2.0 to dive in deeper.

To run Windows applications I would install flatpak package support in any of the subsystems (arch, fedora), then install Bottles for Windows applications and Steam or Lutris for games. Never tried Lutris for applications but it might work well too.

It really depends on what kind of applications you're talking about. There are still a number of things it can't run (or well, probably without a lot of meddling around to get there) in the professional space, like CAD. Hopefully this will change over time.

For a lot of these products there are free alternatives available, but they often don't cut the mustard and/or aren't worth retraining for.

Another thing you should consider before choosing Linux is hardware support. This is often lacking in Linux. For example, your fancy tablet might work fine as a tablet, but if you want to configure anything about it you might need windows depending on the device.

The good news is, you can try it without worrying about harming your windows install by doing it say on a usb stick or hdd. It'll only cost you time and effort.