Deleting the partitions on a drive will remove the entirety of the contents. An OEM installation of any Windows operating system is not going to preserve any installed applications, but may preserve data files, provided you do not delete partitions or change formatting during the installation. If you need to preserve installed applications, you need to do an upgrade installation. If one is not available to you, there may be little choice in the matter.
You will need some means of installing your software yourself after an OEM Windows installation, whether it's from the original disc, a digital download, or otherwise.
A few things to keep in mind, some software requires activation, code, or cd-keys to be fully functional, or even install. Make sure you have these on hand for any programs which require them, and that you need to reinstall.
Windows 8 ships with a lot of drivers for hardware, but you may find that it does not cover every piece of equipment in your particular computer. It is highly advisable to gather necessary drivers before you torpedo a working Windows installation by performing a new installation, as you may be required to install drivers that you have no means of acquiring through the same machine after reinstallation. A good example would be the networking drivers.