Tor acts as a proxy Tor browser is shipped with tor but using a different port. Tor is not the browser.
So as long as you set up what you want to use with tor and remember to start it, it should work. Otherwise I'm sure you could setup a pi or local server to route everything through tor if you wanted to.
Edit: I believe the tor network is a VPN though. Your data is sent privately through the virtual tor network.
Not all VPN connections have to work the same, after all Hamachi is also a VPN.